Gender diversity in firms

Abstract

This paper explores the recent efforts by the corporate world and public policy to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the workplace. We review and empirically evaluate the ‘business case’ for gender equality, showing some evidence in favour of it. Despite the evidence and growing support, progress towards more diversity in leadership positions has been slow. We study the importance of supply-side constraints, as well as the main diversity policies (gender quotas, mentoring and network programmes, diversity training to change firm culture, and family friendly policies) that have been implemented. We focus on the effectiveness of these policies, their shortcomings, as well as potential future steps that could help guide policy.

Gender economics: an assessment

“…Inequalities in the labour market go back to inequalities in education, posing important supply-side constraints for firms to be able to increase diversity in employment and promote the career progression for women to managerial positions (Azmat and Boring, 2020). As Cavaglia et al (2020) document, over the last 20 years gender gaps in educational achievement in England have evolved to a point at which they favour girls in several areas (including enrolment in tertiary education).…”

“…A case in point is sexual harassment. Azmat and Boring (2020) highlight that a lot of harassment is being under-reported, and point to policies explicitly prohibiting sexual harassment and outlining the consequences of such behaviour as a first step to tackle this issue. As an alternative to the explicit regulation and punishment of overt prejudice, statements about a company's culture and accepted behaviour can go a long way in setting the 'rules of the game'.…”

“…As an alternative to the explicit regulation and punishment of overt prejudice, statements about a company's culture and accepted behaviour can go a long way in setting the 'rules of the game'. These lighter-touch interventions do not necessarily offer procedures to deal with problematic behaviour, or punishment, but they send a strong signal to discriminating actors about what will be tolerated and accepted (Azmat and Boring, 2020). The economics profession itself is taking its first steps in this direction.…”

“…6 Partly because of the challenges faced by policy-makers, traditional interventions have focused on compensating women ex post. As discussed in Bryson et al (2020) and Azmat and Boring (2020), positive discrimination practices and quotas are an example of an attempt to correct things ex post, although the jury is still out on their success regarding the outcomes for women more generally (Bertrand et al, 2019). Maternity leave policies and flexible work initiatives, including working from home and reduced hours of work, also fall within the type of policies aimed at compensating women ex post rather than attempting to change norms.…”

“…Similarly, exposure of women from a non-socialist regime to women from a socialist regime altered their behaviour and gender-role attitudes (Schmitz and Weinhardt, 2019). Role model and mentoring initiatives are two policies stemming from cultural learning models, and more research is needed to understand the pathways that make these interventions successful (Azmat and Boring, 2020). However, cultural values and beliefs are deeply rooted in societies, and beliefs about the role of women in society in particular evolve very slowly.…”