Dear GDO Colleagues,
Please see below an invitation to attend a caucus on women on corporate boards at the AOM conference in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place>.
Thank you,
Diana
"Women on Corporate Boards-Contributing to the Public Debate"
Monday 6th August, 9.45-11.15, Mariott, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Columbus</st1:place></st1:city> II room
Organizers:
Ruth Sealy, ruth.sealy@cranfield.ac.uk, +44 7711 477109
Heather Foust-Cummings, hfoust-cummings@catalyst.org, 1-508-276-1022
Supporters: <st1:personname w:st="on">Susan Adams</st1:personname>, Ruth Alas, Diana Bilimoria, Ron Burke, Thomas Clarke, Celia de Anca, Elena Doldor, Katrin Hansen, Morten Huse, <st1:personname w:st="on">Alison Konrad</st1:personname>, Gavin Nicholson, dt ogilvie, Ralph Stablein, Siri Terjesen, Sue Vinnicombe
Keywords: Women on Corporate Boards, International Comparisons
Caucus description:
Over the past decade, the subject of women on corporate boards of directors has received increasing scholarly attention (For a review of much of this literature, see Terjesen, Sealy, and Singh, 2009). From research examining the recruitment and selection of board directors, to the integration of women onto boards, to the impact of the presence of women on task performance, board outputs, and companies' financial metrics, scholars have addressed some substantial questions on the subject of women on boards. Additionally, women's presence in the boardroom-or more accurately, the lack thereof-has become a matter of significant public discussion and debate. Across the globe, legislation and policy regulations-or their spectre-are driving action and spurring (voluntary) efforts to increase the number of women on corporate boards (for more information, see: http://www.frc.org.uk/press/pub2645.html; http://www.catalyst.org/publication/514/increasing-gender-diversity-on-boards-current-index-of-formal-approaches).
Despite greater awareness and understanding of the ways in which women contribute to boards, scholars and practitioners alike still seem to be struggling with the question of "why women?", when perhaps the question should be "why only men?" Data from across the globe indicate that women's representation on boards-except where legislative or policy interventions have occurred-is stagnant, and in some cases, corporate directors themselves don't see gender diversity on boards as a concern (see, for example, Table 3 in the Institute of Corporate Directors' recent report, at: http://www.icd.ca/Content/Files/News/2011/201112_BoardDiversity_ENG_FINAL.pdf).
Why have companies flat-lined when it comes to advancing women onto corporate boards? In what ways has the public debate changed in recent years? How can scholars and other interested stakeholders contribute to public debate and discussion that moves from "why women" to "why not women"? Given the enormity of corporate failures in recent years, what are the compelling arguments being made in favour of not broadening boardroom representation? What lessons can we learn from countries where quotas have been implemented or where government involvement is spurring efforts to address inequity through mechanisms such as comply-or-explain?
The Women on Boards caucus can provide a sense of international community for scholars interested in this topic. In this rapidly evolving field, scholars from different countries are encouraged to share their national perspective. The Caucus welcomes your contribution from varying perspectives (e.g., corporate governance, social psychology, critical management studies, gender studies), providing topical discussion on continuing to advance the international research agenda, encourage collaboration, and better understand the ways in which scholars can contribute to the growing, global debate on this issue.