Abstract
Women and men do not participate in the national or global economy to the same extent. One of the critical factors in gender equality is access to the boards of directors in both private and public companies, as this is where the highest levels of power are concentrated. Sometimes the result of this historical tendency to exclude women is accompanied by an allusion to “smoke-filled rooms,” where important decisions are made by powerful people. However, with a release of a law to establish gender quotas in Icelandic boards of directors, both the smoke and the men-only corporate boards vanished away in the largest corporations.
If Anything can save the world, women can.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Adams RB, Hermalin BE, Weisbach MS (2010) The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey. J Econ Lit 48(1):58–107
Arnórsdóttir RE (2012) Gender quota on corporate boards in Iceland. Attitudes within the Icelandic business community, Copenhagen
Eagly AH, Carli LL (2003) The female leadership advantage: an evaluation of the evidence. Leadersh Q 14(6):807–834
Elstad B, Ladegard G (2012) Women on corporate boards: key influencers or tokens? J Manag Gov 16(4):595–615
Guðmundsdóttir ÁE (2017) Sterkari í seinni hálfleik. Spennandi umbreytingar og heillandi tækifæri í framtíðinni. Bjartur, Reykjavík
Kanter RM (1977) Men and women of the corporation. Basic Books, New York
McKinsey & Company (2012) Unlocking the full potential of women at work, New York
Nekhili M, Gatfaoui H (2013) Are demographic attributes and firm characteristics drivers of gender diversity? Investigating women’s positions on French boards of directors. J Bus Ethics 118(2):227–249
Noland M, Moran T, Kotschwar B (2016) Is gender diversity profitable? Evidence from a global survey. Working Paper series. Peterson Institute for international Economics
Pande R, Ford D (2011) Gender quotas and female leadership. Harvard University
Rafnsdóttir GL, Heijstra TM (2013) Balancing work–family life in academia: the power of time. Gend Work Organ 20(3):283–296
Rafnsdóttir GL, Axelsdóttir L, Diðriksdóttir S, Einarsdóttir Þ (2015) Women and men as business leaders in Iceland. Jafnréttisstofa, Raykjavik
Terjesen S, Aguilera RV, Lorenz R (2015) Legislating a woman’s seat on the board: institutional factors driving gender quotas for boards of directors. J Bus Ethics 128(2):233–251
Torchia M, Calabrò A, Huse M (2011) Women directors on corporate boards: from tokenism to critical mass. J Bus Ethics 102(2):299–317
Velferðarráðuneytið (2018) Skýrsla félags- og jafnréttisráðherra um stöðu og þróun jafnréttismála 2015–2017. Reykjavík
Vinnicombe S, Singh V, Burke RJ, Bilimoria D, Huse M (2008) Women on corporate boards of directors. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Wang M, Kelan E (2013) The gender quota and female leadership: effects of the Norwegian gender quota on board chairs and CEOs. J Bus Ethics 117(3):449–466
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Minelgaite, I., Guðmundsdóttir, S., Guðmundsdóttir, Á.E., Stangej, O. (2018). Before and After: Effect of Gender Quota on Icelandic Landscape of the Boards of Directors. In: Demystifying Leadership in Iceland. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96044-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96044-9_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96043-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96044-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)