The Women on Boards in Europe Project: Aims, Methodology and Implications

Abstract

This book is the result of the collaborative research project Professional Progress of Women in Europe: Women on Boards & Executive Posts in the EU, undertaken within the European Network of Excellence Reconciling Work and Welfare (RECWOWE). Our project aim was to describe and analyse the evolution and current situation of women on boards and in top executive posts in strategically selected European countries. The project was stimulated by recent developments in Spain, and the team comprised scholars from eight countries (Finland, France, Hungary, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK). The choice of countries offers a meaningful variety of institutional frameworks, with respect both to models of provision of welfare and jobs for women (see Chapter 1) and to specific regulatory approaches towards women’s presence on corporate boards of firms in the private sector (see Chapter 2).