Modernisation and gender representation: the enterprise sector in Scotland

Abstract

PurposeA key aspect of the government's modernisation programme is to promote greater gender balance and diversity across public sector institutions and services. This includes appointments to and membership of public funded bodies. This paper reports on initial research on gender representation on boards in the Scottish enterprise (SE) sector.Design/methodology/approachA survey of membership by gender of SE and local enterprise company (LEC) boards; questionnaire survey of board members (n=66 – 43 male, 23 female); elite interviews.FindingsGender imbalance skewed in favour of males to an even greater extent than the public appointments sector as a whole. Women were more likely to approach board membership through formal means than by personal contact. Men and women had different views about personal contribution made to boards. Women surveyed tended to serve on more boards than did men. There were major procedural differences and inconsistencies between LECs and between LECs and SE regarding board recruitment.Practical implicationsAppointments procedures could be altered to ensure consistency, transparency and increased “gaze” across the enterprise network. Ways should be found to increase the female recruitment pool to counter the over stretching currently observed among existing female board members.Originality/valueThis research highlights the challenges faced by modernisation in this sector with respect to improving gender balance in representational terms. The next stage of the research will focus on substantive representation in the enterprise sector.