Women´s Representation in Managerial Positions at the Big Four in the EU. The Influence of Corporate and Institutional Support

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2021-07-07
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en
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Abstract
Considering the low representation of women in managerial positions at accounting firms, this paper aims to jointly investigate the influence of corporate policies and programs to enhance gender diversity and the institutional support provided by the countries where the individual firms are based. This study draws on data from all the Big Four located in EU countries from 2010 to 2019 and investigates the effect of corporate and institutional support on the percentage of women managers. Although some potential was found in the statistical analysis, no significant results confirmed our expectations on the positive association between corporate support, institutional support and women managers. Nonetheless, the study shows that despite very similar policies and programs are applied in all of the Big Four, women’s representation differs amongst them. Deloitte presented a higher number of women managers than the rest of the Big Four. Consequently, this research challenges further studies to investigate more in-depth the causes of these differences and other determinants of gender diversity in managerial positions.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen
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