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Bringing Women on Board: The Social Policy Implications of Gender Diversity in Top Jobs

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Helen Kowalewska at University of Bath
Helen Kowalewska
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Abstract

This paper argues that analyses of the gendered character of welfare states should be broadened to include women’s share of board and executive roles, as well as the affirmative-action policies (e.g. gender boardroom quotas) that overcome the gender stereotypes (e.g. women are ‘nice’, men are ‘assertive’) and opaque selection procedures at the root of this. Such indicators may seem beyond the remit of social policy analysis, which is concerned foremost with the analysis of ‘social risk’. Yet, drawing on research evidence from across multiple disciplines, this paper argues that achieving a ‘critical mass’ of women in board and executive positions can bring women’s issues onto companies’ agendas and lead to the adoption of female-friendly practices, policies, and cultures at the firm-level. In turn, these practices, policies, and cultures can help to reduce the incidence of gendered social risks (employment/care conflicts, economic dependence on a partner) and sexual harassment among women at lower levels of the labour market. Thus, the paper highlights another dimension to the social-regulatory function of welfare states that has, to date, been overlooked, namely legislative requirements on companies to achieve gender diversity in their leadership structures.
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Bringing Women on Board: The Social Policy Implications
of Gender Diversity in Top Jobs
Journal of Social Policy
HELEN KOWALEWSKA
DOI: 10.1017/S0047279419000722
Published online: 31 October 2019, pp. 1-19
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Abstract
This paper argues that analyses of the gendered character of welfare states should be broadened to include
women’s share of board and executive roles, as well as the affirmative-action policies (e.g. gender boardroom
quotas) that help to overcome the gender stereotypes (e.g. women are ‘nice’, men are ‘assertive’) and opaque
selection procedures at the root of this. Such indicators may seem beyond the remit of social policy analysis, which is
concerned foremost with the analysis of ‘social risk’. However, drawing on evidence from across multiple disciplines,
this paper argues that achieving a ‘critical mass’ of women in board and executive positions can bring women’s
issues onto companies’ agendas and lead to the adoption of female-friendly practices, policies, and cultures at the
firm level. Crucially, these practices, policies, and cultures can help to reduce the incidence of gendered social risks
(employment/care conflicts, economic dependence on a partner) and sexual harassment among women at lower
levels of the labour market. Thus, the paper highlights another dimension to the social-regulatory function of
welfare states which has to date been overlooked, namely legislative requirements on companies to achieve gender
diversity in their leadership structures.
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... Female leaders: from cogs in the machine to change agents In this journal, Kowalewska (2020) argued that analyses of the gendered character of welfare states should include considerations of women's representation in corporate leadership. This argument was born out of a shift in how the sociological literature views the role of women leaders in organisations. ...
... Increasingly, however, research suggests that women leaders can be effective 'change agents' (Fuwa, 2021;Kelan & Wratil, 2018), i.e. willing and able to weaken gender-biased aspects of organisational culture and procedures (Gould et al., 2018;Jouber, 2022;Khushk et al., 2023). This is evidenced when female leaders are not anomalies (Miliopoulou & Kapareliotis, 2021) but part of a critical mass of women leaders (Kowalewska, 2020(Kowalewska, , 2021. While acknowledging the economic power they wield, the research stresses female leaders' ability to apply normative pressure for change (Gould et al., 2018;van Mensvoort et al., 2021). ...
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... Men det kan jo også vaere andre grunner til at flest mulig styrer bør ha sterkere kvinnelig representasjon. Kowalewska (2020) argumenterer at å få en «kritisk masse» av kvinner i styrene kan bidra til mer kvinnevennlig praksis og policy, samt forbedringer i bedriftskulturene som også kan forplante seg til holdninger i arbeidsmarkedet. ...
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