IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v35y2021i4p735-752.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bringing Women on Board? Family Policies, Quotas and Gender Diversity in Top Jobs

Author

Listed:
  • Helen Kowalewska

Abstract

An influential body of work has identified a ‘welfare-state paradox’: work–family policies that bring women into the workforce also undermine women’s access to the top jobs. Missing from this literature is a consideration of how welfare-state interventions impact on women’s representation at the board-level specifically, rather than managerial and lucrative positions more generally. This article contributes to addressing this ‘gap’. A fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 22 industrialised countries reveals how welfare-state interventions combine with gender boardroom quotas and targets in (not) bringing a ‘critical mass’ of women onto private-sector corporate boards. Overall, the analysis finds limited evidence in support of a welfare-state paradox; in fact, countries are unlikely to achieve a critical mass of women on boards in the absence of adequate childcare services. The results further suggest that ‘hard’, mandatory gender boardroom quotas are not necessary for achieving more women on boards; ‘soft’, voluntary recommendations can also work under certain family policy constellations.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Kowalewska, 2021. "Bringing Women on Board? Family Policies, Quotas and Gender Diversity in Top Jobs," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(4), pages 735-752, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:35:y:2021:i:4:p:735-752
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017020971221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017020971221
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017020971221?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yusuf Emre Akgunduz & Janneke Plantenga, 2013. "Labour market effects of parental leave in Europe," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(4), pages 845-862.
    2. Olivier Thévenon, 2011. "Family Policies in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 57-87, March.
    3. Daniela Del Boca & Silvia Pasqua & Chiara Pronzato, 2009. "Motherhood and market work decisions in institutional context: a European perspective," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(suppl_1), pages 147-171, April.
    4. Michael Shalev, 2008. "Class Divisions among Women," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(3), pages 421-444, September.
    5. Mariateresa Torchia & Andrea Calabrò & Morten Huse, 2011. "Women Directors on Corporate Boards: From Tokenism to Critical Mass," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 299-317, August.
    6. Ragin, Charles C., 2000. "Fuzzy-Set Social Science," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226702773, June.
    7. Ragin, Charles C., 2006. "Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 291-310, July.
    8. Del Boca, Daniela & Locatelli, Marilena & Vuri, Daniela, 2004. "Child Care Choices by Italian Households," IZA Discussion Papers 983, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. repec:ucp:bkecon:9780226702766 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samira Nabiafjadi & Maryam Sharifzadeh & Hossein Shabanali Fami & Mostafa Ahmadvand, 2024. "A Comparative Analysis of Good Water Governance in Iran’s Water-Poor Basins," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 38(15), pages 6025-6044, December.
    2. Erling Barth & Liza Reisel & Kjersti Misje Østbakken, 2024. "The Equality Hurdle: Resolving the Welfare State Paradox," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(3), pages 766-786, June.
    3. Elizabeth Cotton & T Alexandra Beauregard & Janroj Yilmaz Keles, 2021. "Gender Equalities: What Lies Ahead," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(4), pages 615-620, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Agnieszka Gehringer & Stephan Klasen, 2017. "Labor Force Participation of Women in the EU – What Role do Family Policies Play?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 31(1), pages 15-42, March.
    2. Grohs, Reinhard & Raies, Karine & Koll, Oliver & Mühlbacher, Hans, 2016. "One pie, many recipes: Alternative paths to high brand strength," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2244-2251.
    3. Barry Cooper & Judith Glaesser, 2016. "Analysing necessity and sufficiency with Qualitative Comparative Analysis: how do results vary as case weights change?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 327-346, January.
    4. Federica Nieri & Luciano Ciravegna & Ruth V. Aguilera & Elisa Giuliani, 2019. "Larger, more internationalized, better behaved? A configurational study of em erging market multinational enterprises' involvement in corporate wrongdoing," Discussion Papers 2019/255, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    5. He, Wei & Prentice, Catherine & Wang, Xuequn, 2024. "Symmetrical and asymmetrical approaches to brand loyalty– The case of intelligent voice assistants," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    6. Ferguson, Graham & Megehee, Carol M. & Woodside, Arch G., 2017. "Culture, religiosity, and economic configural models explaining tipping-behavior prevalence across nations," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 218-233.
    7. Katarzyna Boratyńska, 2021. "A New Approach for Risk of Corporate Bankruptcy Assessment during the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Roberta Rutigliano, 2020. "Counting on Potential Grandparents? Adult Children’s Entry Into Parenthood Across European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1414, August.
    9. Sonja Sperber & Christian Linder, 2018. "The impact of top management teams on firm innovativeness: a configurational analysis of demographic characteristics, leadership style and team power distribution," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 285-316, January.
    10. Daniela Cristofoli & Benedetta Trivellato & Alessandro Sancino & Laura Maccio’ & Josip Markovic, 2021. "Public network leadership and the ties that lead," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 251-274, March.
    11. Scott R. Eliason & Robin Stryker, 2009. "Goodness-of-Fit Tests and Descriptive Measures in Fuzzy-Set Analysis," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 38(1), pages 102-146, August.
    12. Bencsik, Barbara & Palmié, Maximilian & Parida, Vinit & Wincent, Joakim & Gassmann, Oliver, 2023. "Business models for digital sustainability: Framework, microfoundations of value capture, and empirical evidence from 130 smart city services," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Grinza, Elena & Devicienti, Francesco & Rossi, Mariacristina & Vannoni, Davide, 2017. "How Entry into Parenthood Shapes Gender Role Attitudes: New Evidence from Longitudinal UK Data," IZA Discussion Papers 11088, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Rebean Al-Silefanee & Niels Bosma, 2024. "Uncovering Determinants of Entrepreneurial Behaviour in a Transitioning Economy: A Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 33(1), pages 34-58, February.
    15. Muñoz, Pablo & Dimov, Dimo, 2015. "The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 632-654.
    16. Maria do Rosario Correia & Raquel F. Ch. Meneses, 2019. "Venture Capital and the Use of Convertible Securities and Control Rights Covenants: A Fuzzy Set Approach," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 5-20.
    17. Stephanie Schwipper & Severine Peche & Gertrud Schmitz, 2020. "Mobile Location-Based Services’ Value-in-Use in Inner Cities: Do a Customer’s Shopping Patterns, Prior User Experience, and Sales Promotions Matter?," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(4), pages 511-564, October.
    18. Khedhaouria, Anis & Thurik, Roy, 2017. "Configurational conditions of national innovation capability: A fuzzy set analysis approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 48-58.
    19. Marie Romuald Pouka Pouka & Viviane Ondoua Biwolé, 2024. "Does causal analysis improve the understanding of entrepreneurial support for SME performance?," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Zheng, Lu & Ulrich, Klaus & Sendra-García, Javier, 2021. "Qualitative comparative analysis: Configurational paths to innovation performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 83-93.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:35:y:2021:i:4:p:735-752. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.