Gender Diversity: An Issue of Concern

Literature Review

One interesting study area for many researchers over the last few decades has been gender diversity (Elgart, 1983; Wall Street Journal, 1986). Research on female members on boards has gained significant attention in recent years. Though studies have claimed that the number of women is increasing on boards (Heidrick & Struggles, 1986; Vance, 1983), there are still optimistic and pessimistic views as to what this trend represents. The optimistic expression presumes that the increasing number of female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) or board members is a signal of transition in women’s role as top executives (Spencer, 1984), while the pessimistic opinion claims that though the actual number of women on board has been increasing, proportionately it is still not notable (Wall Street Journal, 1986). Those of the latter view claim that women are not an anomaly in the corporate board room as they were just a decade ago, when only 13% of the 1350 major American companies had a female director, while it jumped up to 41% in one year in 1987. However, the recent picture is more surprising, showing that 85% of firms in the US have female board members.