Gender balance on company boards: a summary from a research project about the impact of the Norwegian gender quota legislation

Abstract

This report summarizes main findings from the research project: Effects of gender balance in corporate boards. The project is financed by the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. The report consists of nine chapters. The introductory chapter will provide key information about the gender quota legislation, as well as describe the policy process that led to the gender balance legislation; the second chapter will present some of the existing research on the gender balance regulation of corporate boards; chapter three investigates the relationship between gender representation on corporate boards and in the top management group; chapter four analyses differences in attitudes to gender equality among top managers; gender differences in career patterns and gender differences among top managers in family situation and background is analyzed in chapter 5; the effects of gender balance legislation for career progress and gender wage-differences, is studied in chapter 6; gender differences for centrality in corporate networks is studied in chapter 7; the largest companies profiling on their web-sites in regard to gender equality and diversity are studied in chapter 8; chapter 9 interrogates normative reasoning and aspects of democracy in relation to the legitimacy of legal regulation of gender balance for corporate boards.