Board Gender Diversity and Firm Performance

This chapter aims at investigating board gender diversity and firm performance by integrating two theoretical backgrounds (agency theory and institutional theory). Board gender diversity has been investigated by using firm level theories such as agency theory and stewardship theory. Resource dependence theory, which links the board to the external environment of the firm, was also implemented in order to better understand how board gender diversity would affect firm performance. However, results were inconsistent. This study tries to integrate agency theory with institutional theory under the assumption that firms are affected by endogenous and exogenous factors that would eventually affect its outcomes such as performance.

Corporate Female Leadership Effects Considering PSI20 and IBEX35 Companies' Performance

Using a sample of 47 Portuguese and Spanish firms for the period 2010 to 2017, the authors study the relationship between female presence on board and firm's accounting (ROA and ROE) and market-based (MTB and Tobin's Q) performance. They find that women on the board of directors is positively related to firm's performance, as well as the gender of the CFO and the proportion of women on the listed key professionals, when we consider the market measures of performance, not being so consistent for accounting performance measures. Results were sensitive to the performance measure used. The results reinforce the political options of European Commission gender established quotas, revealing that in the Iberian countries these quotas are not being effectively implemented, even if results suggest that women on board in fact exert positive influence over market performance. This also led us to think that financial markets may also react in a positive way when the CFO of the company is a woman instead of a man, despite the sample limitations both in terms of gender and number of firms.

Exploring Female Entrepreneurship

This chapter addresses some of the misconceptions regarding female entrepreneurship and how different notions in different contexts lay the ground for further misalignments in the entrepreneurial process. It also addresses how contextual issues affect social and economic underpinnings in different countries. Stereotypes in traditional and modern societies and the barriers to gender equality results in unequal distribution of resources, which are further reflected on the characteristics of entrepreneurs leading to potential hindrances to female entrepreneurship from contextual issue. The need to recognize the diversity that exists among different contexts and the level of impact on female entrepreneurship is reflected on society. Finally, the chapter offers a tentative outlook for further research into female entrepreneurship through the discussion of contextual issues and conclusions.

Gender Awareness and Women Managers in Tourism

The purpose of this chapter is to reveal women top-level managers' gender awareness in relation to two aspects: 1) perceptions of discrimination and 2) views of what could be done towards gender equality (by the state, organizations, and women themselves), so that more women can advance their careers. Women top-level managers in the Portuguese tourism sector were interviewed. The interview data suggests that discrimination might still be pervasive in the Portuguese tourism industry. However, many women do not perceive it as “real” discrimination and have contradictory discourses about it. Informants were also asked what could be done so that more women advance in their careers. They place the solution to the problem of gender equality mostly in women's hands. While some of the strategies proposed by women confront the gender order, others align with the status quo by ensuring that women “fit in” without challenging existing structures.

Understanding Career Barriers of Women Executives

Inequalities between women and men continue in global labor markets. Although the inclusion of women as labor force increases day by day, their representation in senior management levels remains insufficient. Women continue to face several barriers preventing them from attaining equal access, participation, and progress in the business environment. Within this chapter, the authors discuss two types of career barriers called “glass ceiling” and “glass cliff,” which women encounter frequently in their work life. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general perspective on barriers of women's career advancement and to examine glass ceiling and glass cliff the in its background, its causes, and its consequences. The chapter also aims to analyze studies which criticize the concept of glass ceiling. The results of the chapter are expected to be a source for researchers in the areas of women's career barriers, women's leadership, and gender inequality.

Relation Between Work-Family Life Conflict and Organizational Cynicism in Women

The quantity and quality of women's employment has long been a worldwide issue and has particular resonance in Turkey. In Turkey, the banking sector is of particular significance due to its high number of female employees. Thus, owing to this phenomenon, the main focus of the chapter is on the banking sector. One of the greatest problems facing working women in life is work-family conflict, kind of role conflict. Furthermore, in recent years, organizational cynicism has long been a central plank in many studies. This study thus examines women's conflict with work and family life along with organizational cynicism and its numerous lower dimensions. Data gathered from 182 female bankers was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Program of Social Sciences) software. Analysis of the results would suggest that some demographic variables have a significant impact upon organizational cynicism and the conflict between work and family life conflict. Also, there is a positively significant correlation in medium level between the variables.

The Evolution of the Role of Women in Labor Markets in Developed Economies

The role of women in labor markets has been characterized by great changes in the last century, with gender inequalities decreasing in most developed countries. The stereotypes related to women in labor markets have been hard to break within social norms and cultures. Many efforts have been made in recent decades by governments and national and international institutions to decrease and promote women's empowerment and gender equality in labor markets. This chapter has as its main purposes to provide an overview of the evolution of the role of women in labor markets in developed countries and to investigate this evolution based on a set of variables: gender participation rates, education, employment, the gender gap in management, wages and the gender wage gap, and public policies and laws. However, despite the positive evolution of the participation rate of women in labor markets that has been observed in recent decades, gender inequalities still persist.

Women's Roles in Family Businesses

This chapter is based on a systematic literature review of 56 articles published in leading academic journals and aims to reflect on the role of women in family businesses, focusing on specifics, contradictions, and opportunities derived from this specific setting. In detail, this work intends to disentangle this ambiguous and fragmentary topic and shed light on new perspectives by identifying how and why women are involved in invisible or minor roles where they are sometimes unpaid or paid less than men, despite having shown uncontested ability in firm management. Further studies are suggested to analyze in depth specific insights of the topic, particularly those related to anthropological and psychological perspectives.

The Daughter's Career in Family Firms

In spite of the considerable importance of career issues in the field of family business gender studies, current literature shows a lack of attention to careers in family businesses. Due to this theoretical limitation, this chapter aims to investigate quantitatively the second generation's career in a sample of Italian family firms (N=297). Findings suggest that the careers of females and males show different characteristics. This chapter contributes to the limited research on daughter succession. Moreover, it provides a contribution to understanding the daughters' organizational and educational career in small and medium-sized family firms specifically, filling a gap in the current literature. Finally, this chapter prompts a reflection on the cultural/contextual aspects that impact upon entry into the company.

Power and Gender

The chapter seeks to explore the roots of gender inequality through the personal experiences of working women in senior positions which are extracted from their stories about their families, societies, and organizations. To conduct the research, Hofstede's cultural dimensions were employed as a tool to determine the national culture which has direct influence on organizational culture which dominates the workplace and influences immensely every sphere of women's activities in the workplace. In this research, consideration is given to cultural aspects through data gathered from educated Iranian, Malay, and Turkish female employees illustrating their organizational life.