Gender Diversity in Corporate Governance in Serbia: Legal Issues and Potential Remedies

Abstract

The status of gender diversity in corporate governance (i.e., women's right to be part of corporate bodies) is a very important issue worldwide, including in Serbia. The paper examines women's rights from a historical perspective to address the problem of their social under-representation, especially when it comes to their social role outside the family. Additionally, we investigate the EU and Serbian legal framework for encouraging women's participation on corporate boards, including their status in the Serbian banking and insurance industry. Retrospection, compilation, deduction and induction methods were used in the paper. An in-depth analysis shows that women constitute at least one-third of the membership (at least in one executive board), in the majority of Serbian banks and insurance companies. We notice that the Serbian Gender Equality Act does not encourage greater women’s participation in corporate boards. Thus, there is a need for immediate legal action to mandate women's representation on corporate boards, and to require additional explanation if this legal provision is violated. The traditional understanding of the position of women in society has remained unchanged, but it is noticeable that the accessibility of corporate management to women is improving, although perhaps not enough and equally in all countries and industries.