The COVID-19, a crossroads for female directors

Abstract

PurposeFor almost half a century, society has been aware of the existence of a glass ceiling, a term that describes the invisible barriers that hinder women’s access to power positions despite having equal or greater qualifications, skills and merits than their male counterparts. Nowadays, although there are signs of slow progress, women are still underrepresented in the upper echelons of large corporations and the risk of reversing the progress made in gender parity has increased because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper contributes to previous literature by analysing the impact that the uncertainty and cognitive effects associated with COVID-19 in 2020 had on the presence of women on the board of directors and whether this impact has been moderated by the regulatory and policy system on gender quotas in place at the time.Design/methodology/approachTo test the authors' research hypotheses, the authors selected the major global companies worldwide with economic-financial and non-financial information available in the Thomson Reuters EIKON database over the 2015–2020 period. As a result, the authors' final sample is made up of 1,761 companies from 52 countries with different institutional settings that constitute an unbalanced data panel of 8,963 observations. The nature of the dependent variables requires the use of logistic regressions. The models incorporate the terms to control for any unobservable heterogeneity and the error term. Any endogeneity issues were addressed by considering the explanatory variables with a time lag.FindingsThe authors find that almost 30% of the companies downsized their boards in 2020. This decision resulted in more female than male directors being made redundant, causing a reversal in the fulfilment of gender quotas focussed on ensuring balanced boards with a female presence of 40% or more. This effect was enhanced in countries with hard-law regulation because the penalty for non-compliance with gender quotas had led to a significant increase in the size of these bodies in previous years through the inclusion of the required number of female directors. In contrast, the reduction in board size in soft-law countries does not differ from that in laissez-faire countries, lacking any moderating effect or impact on the number of female board members dismissed as a result of the pandemic.Originality/valueThis paper aims to contribute to current knowledge by analysing the impact that the countries' regulatory and normative systems on gender parity on boards of directors have had on the decisions made in relation to leadership positions, moderating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality at a global level.

The effect of COVID‐19 on employment: A bibliometric review of a she‐cession

“…care of the home and family(García-Sánchez et al, 2023;van Barneveld et al, 2020). The lack of co-responsibility in the family sphere makes it difficult to reconcile personal and professional life, to which must be added the masculine spirit that still characterizes business environment, where prejudices, self-limitations and promotion policies hinder female leadership and gender equality.5 | RESULTS FROM BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS: THE COVID-19 IMPACT ON GENDER GAP IN EMPLOYMENT 5.1 | Overview Table 2 shows the temporal evolution of publications on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's work.…”

“…7.1.3 | The pandemic effect on upper echelon positionDempere and Grassa (2023) analyze the repercussions of the COVID-19 emergency on the empowerment of women in 93 countries between 2019 and 2020, examining the effects of the pandemic on the workforce and other sectors. In this regard, they observe that while the female presence is maintained in senior management positions in corporations, political parties, etc., there is a notable increase in female unemployment rates.The work ofGarcía-Sánchez et al (2023) reveals that 30% of large multinationals decided in 2020 to reduce the size of their boards. This decision primarily occurred in companies located in countries with regulations regarding gender quotas because compliance with them led to increases in the number of members of this body.Along these lines, the reduction in the size of the council resulted in the departure of a greater number of female directors, causing a setback in the achievements attained with respect to balanced bodies that had a female presence equal to or greater than 40%.7.1.4 | Forces against she-cessionVarious institutional and corporate policies have played a crucial role in protecting female employment, countering the findings ofFabrizio et al (2021), who observed that the lack of access to childcare alternatives in the United States hindered female empowerment.…”

“…We are aware of the glass ceiling impeding female access to leadership levels, and this barrier has been further influenced by the disruptions caused by COVID-19. In this sense,García-Sánchez et al (2023) have analyzed the moderate effect of legal forces. However, there is an opportunity to enhance our current understanding by examining the effects in various social and cultural environments.…”