Dear Colleagues :
I invite you to join us for our showcase panel symposium examining the relevance of gender in the upper echelons!
Sex in the Boardroom:
Does Gender Really Matter in the Upper Echelons? -A Debate.
Showcase Symposium (BPS,OMT,GDO)
Monday, Aug 8 2016 9:45AM - 11:15AM at Hilton Anaheim in San Simeon A.
This panel symposium has been inspired by a recent article in "The Economist" (Sex in the Boardroom, 2015) which argues that there are no differences in the leadership and management ability of female CEOs as compared to their male counterparts and therefore, the gender of top executives is irrelevant to firm performance. In essence, it raises a provocative theoretical question- Does gender really matter in the upper echelons?
While the barriers to women's advancement at the highest levels in organizations have been well documented in management research, extant literature examining the relationship between gender in upper echelons and firm performance has been equivocal. With the number of Fortune 500 companies being led by female CEOs and corporate directors at an all time high (The Washington Post, 2015; Pew Research Center , 2015) , perhaps it is an opportune time for management research to fully examine the gender dynamics within the upper echelons and resolve the mixed findings about the impact of gender on firm performance.
Therefore, the proposed panel symposium brings together an excellent line-up of scholars and experts from varied research traditions including strategy, gender and diversity, and organizational sociology, with the aim of debating and reframing the relevance of gender in the upper echelons. To debate the provocative ideas raised in the Economist article, our panelists will, based on their own body of on-going research, present and discuss varying positions -'for', 'against', as well as intermediate views- on whether gender matters to the leadership of organizations.
Discussant: Don Hambrick (Pennsylvania State University)
Debating 'Against' the motion: 'Sex in the boardroom does matter!'
Panelist: James Westphal (University of Michigan)
Panelist: Christine Beckman (University of Maryland) & Debra L. Shapiro (University of Maryland)
Panelists: Christine Shropshire (Arizona State University)
Intermediate View
Panelist: Albert Cannella (Texas A&M University)
Debating 'For' the motion: 'Sex in the boardroom does not matter!'
Panelists: Aparna Joshi (Pennsylvania State University) & Vilmos Misangyi (Pennsylvania State University)
I hope to see you there !
Dept. of Management & Organization
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802