Women at the intersection of business and government: Are they in places of power?

Abstract

This article examines whether women's increased involvement at the intersection of business and government translates to places of power. Drawing primarily from a series of in‐depth interviews and a mail survey, women's positions in the formal hierarchy and decision‐making structure of corporate‐government relations are analyzed. The context and character of women's networks with those in business and government are also explored. Women are disadvantaged relative to their male counterparts; they are significantly less likely to hold top decision‐making positions in corporate‐government affairs and earn significantly less than men. Moreover, they are on tracks, within government relations and the corporation, that tend not to lead to formal positions of power. Yet women occupy key places in the interface between business and government, through which they potentially derive power to transform their conditions.