Women on Boards and Board Norm Changes A qualitative study on the presence of women on boards and the roles directors take in board norm change processes
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2024-07-01
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en
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Although we know that women’s presence on boards can affect board norms, we have only limited understanding of how women’s presence changes these norms. To address this gap in the literature, this study utilized a qualitative approach, interviewing both men and women directors with collective board experience in over 40 Dutch companies. This study reveals novel theoretical mechanisms, underlying how women directors influence the behavioural roles directors take in board norm change processes. Specifically, this study contributes to the literature by finding that in the presence of women, board compositions and dynamics change, resulting in an increased overall demand for norm changes, which is expressed by both men and women directors. Although both genders are also found to supply board norm changes as change agents, how changes are initiated differs. While men mostly initiate norm changes by acting in new ways, women mostly do this by providing new patterns of social sanctions to influence other directors’ behaviour. While taking on a change agent role does not depend on gender, this study found this does depend on directors’ heterogeneous attributes
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen