Abstract
One of the institutions in which the gender gap remains a contestable issue is the board of directors, where the proportion of female directors is still low. While some countries have achieved higher proportions of female directors on their corporate boards, others have not registered even a single one. Drawing on social role theory, that places emphasis on traditional gender activities, this study starts by arguing that board directorship is an agentic role and more suitable for men. The study shows that key social institutions have the potential to alleviate such stereotypical attitudes or to maintain the status quo. Employing a robust statistical technique in two-stage least squares (2SLS), this study finds that the representation of women in other key national institutions, such as in politics, positively affects the appointment of female directors on boards. On the other hand, religiosity has a negative causal effect on female board appointments.
Highlights
The lack of female representation on corporate boards has attracted the attention of academics (Hillman, Shropshire & Cannella, 2007), policy makers (OECD, 2009), practitioners and civil society (Catalyst, 2007)
That countries that have achieved success i.e. higher proportions of female members in high level politics have managed to reverse traditional gender role attitudes in one area and are more likely to repeat this in others, including on corporate boards
A 1% increase in religiosity in a given country would lead to a decrease in the number of female directors by 0.07%
Summary
The lack of female representation on corporate boards has attracted the attention of academics (Hillman, Shropshire & Cannella, 2007), policy makers (OECD, 2009), practitioners and civil society (Catalyst, 2007). Explanations for the representation of women in elite leadership roles traditionally focused on the idea that a lack of qualified women created a “pipeline problem” This shortage of qualified women has been ascribed to a variety of causes, including women’s family responsibilities (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999) and inherited tendencies for women to display fewer of the traits and motivations that are necessary to attain and achieve success in high-level positions (Browne, 1999; Carter, D'Souza, Simkins & Simpson, 2010; Goldberg, 1993). Non-traditional gender role attitudes in some societies suggest a less distinct genderrole-based division of labor, where men and women share various responsibilities (Van Yperen & Buunk, 1991) We argue that, this view, consistent with insights from social psychology on gender differences and social roles, (Wood & Eagly, 2012) may provide better understanding of gender disparity on corporate boards
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