Board Diversity: More Than a Gender Issue?

Increasing the Number of Women on Corporate Boards: Comparing The “Comply or Explain” and Quota Approaches, Which Is the Most Practical and Effective for Canada?

“…Women now make up half of the population and statistics suggest that they are entering a greater range of occupations, resulting in them having a variety of skills and background experience to bring to an organization (Adams, 2015). The reasoning that is being suggested by commentators in terms of the importance of having more women on boards, needs to be acknowledged.…”

“…The reasoning that is being suggested by commentators in terms of the importance of having more women on boards, needs to be acknowledged. The first reason being provided by commentators is that it is seen as a competitive advantage (Adams, 2015). From a decision making standpoint, it has been suggested that female directors approach and analyze situations from different perspectives, tending to be more ethical (Kang & Payal, 2012).…”

“…The gender quota approach does lead to the achievement of visible results in a short length of time, therefore there are some strengths associated with this approach. Quotas are said to be effective because they can take a company that has evident inequality and underrepresentation of women, and quickly eliminate the imbalance (Adams, 2015;Isidro & Sobral, 2015). They are considered to be effective because companies must hire women, therefore there is no need for discussion (Klettner et al, 2016).…”