The Abramson Effect by Debora L. Spar

With her shocking dismissal in the spring of 2014, former New York Times editor Jill Abramson can now be added to the list of women who have been hired to run large, prominent corporations to be publicly fired soon thereafter. This troubling trend, often referred to as the glass cliff, raises important questions about the challenges that confront women and minorities in the workplace, and the prejudices that still surround those who make it to the top. In The Abramson Effect, Barnard College president Debora Spar explores how far women have come from the days when career options were limited to secretary, teacher, and nurse, but also, as illustrated by Jill Abramson’s case, how far we have left to go.

Denisha Sahadevan