On the influence of gender quotas on the employer attractiveness of companies – Do the means harm the ends?

Abstract

Purpose To increase the share of women in the top management of companies, legal gender quotas are increasingly being introduced worldwide. Their effect, however, especially on perceived diversity and employer attractiveness, remains unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate how a gender quota for a company’s executive board affects potential employees’ evaluation of that company as an employer. Drawing on signaling theory and the rationale of diversity attraction, the authors assumed that both the gender composition of a company’s board and the presence of a quota send signals regarding specific factors associated with diversity (i.e. perceived diversity climate, perceived internal motive for gender diversification and perceived competencies of board members). The authors postulated that these signals are perceived by job applicants and used to evaluate the attractiveness of the company as an employer. Design/methodology/approach In a scenario study, the authors manipulated the composition of the management board. That is, participants were presented an executive board that was either homogeneously male (Group 1) or had a female representation of 30% (Groups 2 and 3) or 50% (Group 4). The executive board in Groups 3 and 4 was subject to a statutory gender quota of 30%. Findings The results showed that a company with a gender-diverse board was perceived as more attractive by potential applicants than an all-male board. Also, a gender quota did not reduce a company’s employer attractiveness. The results suggest that potential applicants attach importance to board diversity but place less value on the causes that led to it. Originality/value Against the backdrop of the war for talent, this study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of gender quotas and factors influencing employer attractiveness. The study showed that when a gender quota is in place, applicants assume to a lesser extent that a company staffs its gender-diverse board of directors out of an inner conviction. Nonetheless, the presence of a gender quota does not significantly reduce the perceived diversity climate, nor does a quota have a negative impact on the employer attractiveness. Thus, using a quota as a means to increase gender diversity does not harm the ends.

Reflexões Sobre as Cotas De Gênero À Luz Da Teoria Crítica Feminista De Nancy Fraser

“…Entre os países que adotaram as cotas de gênero, motivou-se uma série de pesquisas para explorar os benefícios gerados por essas cotas (Leibbrandt;Wang;Foo, 2018;Neschen;Hügelschäfer, 2021;Zenou;Allemand;Brullebaut, 2017). Uma vez que o objetivo era reduzir a desigualdade de gênero, esperava-se que as mulheres tivessem logrado espaços legítimos em campos historicamente destinados aos homens (Schäpers;Stolte;Heinemann, 2023). Mas isso, até então, tem sido bastante tímido na literatura sobre as cotas de gênero, uma vez que o debate recai mais sobre os resultados financeiros das organizações do que sobre as vivências das mulheres nestes contextos (Comi et al, 2020;Dobija et al, 2022;Kirsch, 2018).…”

“…Tendo em vista a relevância desse assunto, muitos países têm adotado estratégias que buscam minimizar as diferenças sociais e econômicas entre homens e mulheres, como as cotas de participação feminina ou, como são mais conhecidas, cotas de gênero (Schäpers;Stolte;Heinemann, 2023). De acordo com a literatura, as cotas de gênero são entendidas como uma estratégia efetiva para ampliar o acesso de mulheres a espaços historicamente ocupados e protagonizados por homens (Lari, 2023).…”

“…No entanto, o que tem chamado a atenção em diferentes pesquisas é a inconsistência dos resultados positivos atribuídos às cotas de gênero. Ao que tudo indica, a adoção das cotas de gênero não tem gerado melhores resultados financeiros para as organizações (Yang et al, 2019), não tem criado espaços legítimos para a inclusão das mulheres (Wagner;Pernsteiner;Riaz, 2023) e não tem aumentado a percepção de diversidade nas organizações ou a atratividade por organizações que adotam o sistema de cotas (Schäpers;Stolte;Heinemann, 2023). Além disso, em muitos países as mulheres continuam sub-representadas em cargos de gestão mesmo com a adoção de cotas de gênero (Cabo et al, 2019).…”

Gender quotas to increase diversity

“…To explore these issues further, Schäpers et al (2023) carry out an online study where participants were asked to consider themselves a job seeker in a particular scenario. Average age of the 276 individuals taking part was 24.72 years and 90% had attained at least a high school diploma.…”

“It is competence first”: executives navigating gender equality targets and meritocracy in technology companies

“…Although more women have joined the ranks of managers in recent decades, women still face difficulties in advancing their careers and their proportion at top management level remains small (e.g. Glosenberg et al , 2022; Kossek et al , 2017; Schäpers et al , 2022). The dearth of women in top positions of technology companies is particularly striking, despite decades of research and intervention efforts.…”