Do Quotas Work on Corporate Boards?
Into the debate about women on corporate boards Boris Groysberg has introduced a new dimension. He has found wide differences in opinion about quotas for women on corporate boards of directors.
Perhaps unsurprisingly women are positive about the idea. Men are not. Asked whether quotas (like Norway’s) are a positive or a negative for corporate boardrooms, 42 percent of women were pro-quota, versus 16 percent of men. Regarding whether quotas are an effective tool for increasing boardroom diversity, 51 percent of women answered yes, versus 25 percent of men
Dr. Groysberg allows there is a big difference between diversity and inclusion.
On most other measures of corporate leadership, the two sexes were in very close agreement.
Perhaps, a lack of women on corporate boards is one last vestige of the corporate culture as it once existed before women became the majority of the workforce and at least at younger ages, began to achieve a degree of economic parity.
Then again, perhaps the way corporate boards are structured may be inherent in the nature of the corporation itself.
Tags: corporate executives, employee attitudes, female executives, gender parity, management, work-life balance
