Does gender diversity in forest sector companies matter?

Abstract

Abstract:The extant literature concerned with enhancing competitiveness of forest sector companies has focused on phenomena rather than people who would drive those phenomena. Generally, human resource management research is sparse in the forest sector literature, despite well-documented knowledge that companies succeed more because of their people than because of any other factor. This article brings human resource issues to the core conversation in forest sector competitiveness research. Specifically, we focus on the link between gender diversity in top leadership and firm financial performance and suggest pathways to improve workforce diversity. The timing of our study is fortuitous, as the graying workforce in the sector will create space for a new generation of leaders. Our argument is that diversity issues should be more proactively addressed in forest sector workforce recruitment not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it has an underlying business case. This is an exploratory study, which is a first step in paving the way for future work on diversity management among forest sector companies. Our findings suggest that more gender diverse top management teams are associated with higher financial performance but that the level of gender diversity in boards of directors has no association with financial performance.Key words: diversity, financial performance, forest industry, gender diversity, human resources management, workforce diversity.Résumé : La littérature existante qui porte sur l'amélioration de la compétitivité des entreprises du secteur forestier traite surtout des phénomènes plutôt que des personnes responsables de ces phénomènes. Même en général, la recherche sur la gestion des ressources humaines est peu abondante dans la littérature qui porte sur le secteur forestier, même s'il est bien connu que le succès des entreprises est davantage dû à leur personnel qu'à n'importe quel autre facteur. Cet article place la question des ressources humaines au centre des préoccupations de la recherche sur la compétitivité dans le secteur forestier. Nous avons spécifiquement mis l'accent sur le lien entre la diversité des genres chez la haute direction et la performance financière de l'entreprise et nous suggérons des façons d'améliorer la diversité de la main-d'oeuvre. Notre étude arrive au bon moment étant donné que le vieillissement de la main-d'oeuvre dans le secteur va ouvrir la porte à une nouvelle génération de dirigeants. Nous croyons que la question de la diversité devrait être abordée de façon plus proactive dans le recrutement de la main-d'oeuvre du secteur forestier, non seulement parce que c'est la bonne chose à faire mais aussi parce qu'il y a un enjeu commercial sous-jacent. Il s'agit d'une étude exploratoire qui constitue un premier pas ouvrant la voie au travail à venir sur la gestion de la diversité dans les entreprises du secteur forestier. Nos résultats indiquent que les équipes de dirigeants les plus diversifiées en termes de genres sont associées à une meilleure p...

“Being one of the boys”: perspectives from female forest industry leaders on gender diversity and the future of Nordic forest-based bioeconomy

“…Women are still underrepresented in the top leadership positions of the Nordic forest sector, despite high representation in higher education programs (Johansson and Ringblom 2017). Also, female members represent a 16% share in both the boards of directors and top management teams in the global top 100 pulp and paper companies (Hansen et al 2016). Positive changes in terms of increasing diversity in decision-making processes have occurred during past decades, but unequal use of power in the sector, or in society in general, may still compound unnecessary gender stereotypes.…”

Bold Vision: Gender Diversity Stuck in Transition

“…In a world with increasing environmental concerns, studies are showing that gender diverse boards help to improve a company's environmental policy (Li et al, 2017;Konadu, 2017). A study looking at the impact of diversity in the forestry sector found that not only was it the right thing to do as the business case demonstrates, it is the smart approach for an industry that was historically dominated by men (Hansen et al, 2016). Canada, aware of the impact of fossil fuels, has encouraged a proactive approach by companies on disclosure to investors regarding climate change risk.…”

The “Catch-22” of Representation of Women in the Forest Sector: The Perspective of Student Leaders in Top Global Forestry Universities

“…In the U.S., the industry employs approximately 950,000 workers with a payroll of approximately $55 billion and manufacturing output of over $300 billion [1]. Nevertheless, the forest sector has not attracted sufficient young talent interested in a career in the industry, resulting in a graying workforce [2]. Enhancing gender diversity or the proportion of women versus men is a reliable solution for filling the workforce gap, since women make up nearly half of the labor force in North America [3], Finland [4], and Sweden [5].…”

“…This paper specifically focuses on gender as one aspect of workforce diversity due to a fact that although there are continuous efforts aimed at increasing gender diversity including in the forest sector, women are still underrepresented in its workforce [6]. There is also underrepresentation of women in top leadership in forest sector companies, even in Nordic countries that are considered at the forefront of gender equality [2].…”

“…Interviews are utilized to answer three research questions: (1) What are the perceptions of women college student leaders on the current situation with respect to gender diversity in the forest sector? (2) What motivates women college student leaders to enter the forest sector? (3) In what ways do women college student leaders think the forest sector could be made more attractive to young women?…”