I think Marissa Mayer's gender was a double-edged sword. She got a lot more media coverage than most males would've gotten in her situation and I think that gave her turnaround effort a bit of a positive perception boost. She also received a lot of scrutiny and a magnifying glass on mistakes whereas a male in that situation might not have.

I agree that Yahoo was a sinking ship from the start, and ultimately I think she may get another shot at CEO because of that.