Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:59:45.438Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Women on Board: Female Board Membership as a Form of Elite Democratization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

Eelke Michiel Heemskerk  and
Meindert Fennema
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Corporate elites have been all-male bastions until the twenty-first century. The recent inclusion of women in the corporate elite needs explanation because it is an abrupt change in recruitment practices. We consider female presence in corporate boards as a sign of the democratization of elite social networks. Building on a case study of the Netherlands that covers the last four decades, we show that the corporate elite has become more open to nonmembers of traditional elites. In the process, women have also entered the boardroom. Initially, these were predominantly female politicians, but more recently many large corporations have recruited foreign females. We argue that the incremental feminization of the corporate elite was in the beginning—that is in the 1970s—initiated by the state but was subsequently pushed forward by the internationalization of corporate governance. We have traced the professional background of all female board members of the largest firms in the Netherlands over the period 1969–2011. We show that the female board members do not form a homogeneous group. The first wave of female directors had a political background, the second wave had an academic background, whereas the third wave was recruited from within the corporations. In this third wave, foreign female directors became predominant. Elites open up their ranks and privileged positions to women, but they do so reluctantly and under outside pressure.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 252 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

References

Bibliography of Works Cited

Books

Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat (Marquis de). La Politique De Condorcet. Paris: Payot & Rivages, 1996.Google Scholar
De Gouges, Olympe. “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen.” http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/293/, 1791.Google Scholar
Domhoff, G. William. The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats. A Study in Ruling-class Cohesiveness. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.Google Scholar
Domhoff, G. William. The Higher Circles. The Governing class in America. New York: Random House, 1970.Google Scholar
Fennema, Meindert Heemskerk, Eelke M. Nieuwe Netwerken: De Ondergang Van De NV Nederland. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Bert Bakker, 2008.Google Scholar
Heemskerk, Eelke M.Decline of the Corporate Community. Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Helmers, H. M. Mokken, Robert J. Plijter, R. C. Stokman, Frans N.. Graven Naar Macht. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Van Gennep, 1975.Google Scholar
Janis, Irving. Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982.Google Scholar
Pitkin, Hannah F.The Concept of Representation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1967.Google Scholar
Podolny, J. M.Status Signals: A Sociological Study of Market Competition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Richardson, I. N. Kakabadse, A. Kakabadse, N.. Bilderberg People: Elite Power and Consensus in World Affairs. London and New York: Oxon: Routledge, 2011.Google Scholar
Scott, John. Corporate Business and Capitalist Classes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Stokman, Frans N. Ziegler, Rolf Scott, John. Networks of Corporate Power. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1985.Google Scholar

Articles and Essays

Adams, R. B. Ferreira, D. “Women in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Governance and Performance.” Journal of Financial Economics 94, no. 2 (2009): 291–309.Google Scholar
Burt, Ronald S. “Structural Holes and Good Ideas.” American Journal of Sociology 110, no. 2 (2004): 349–99.Google Scholar
Campbell, K. Minguez-Vera, A. “Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance.” Journal of Business Ethics 83, no. 3 (2008): 435–51.Google Scholar
Carroll, William K. Fennema, Meindert. “Is There a Transnational Business Community?” International Sociology 17, no. 3 (2002): 393–419.Google Scholar
Carter, D. A. D’Souza, F. Simkins, B. J. Simpson, W. G.. “The Gender and Ethnic Diversity of US Boards and Board Committees and Firm Financial Performance.” Corporate Governance: An International Review 18, no. 5 (2010): 396–414.Google Scholar
Centola, Damon Macy, Michael W. “Complex Contagions and the Weakness of Long Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 113, no. 3 (2007): 702–34.Google Scholar
Croson, R. Buchan, N. “Gender and Culture: International Experimental Evidence from Trust Games.” The American Economic Review 89, no. 2 (1999): 386–91.Google Scholar
Dalton, D. R. Daily, Catherine M. Ellstrand, Alan E. Johnson, Jonathan L.. “Meta-analytic Reviews of Board Composition, Leadership Structure, and Financial Performance.” Strategic Management Journal 19, no. 3 (1998): 269–90.Google Scholar
Del Giudice, M. Booth, T. Irwing, P.. “The Distance between Mars and Venus: Measuring Global Sex Differences in Personality.” PloS One 7, no. 1 (2012): e29265.Google Scholar
Erhardt, N. L. Werbel, J. D. Shrader, C. B.. “Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance.” Corporate Governance: An International Review 11, no. 2 (2003): 102–11.Google Scholar
Erkut, S. Kramer, V. W. Konrad, A. M.. “Critical Mass: Does the Number of Women on a Corporate Board Make a Difference?” In Women on Corporate Boards of Directors: International Research and Practice, edited by Vinnicombe, Susan Singh, Val Burke, Ronald J. Bilimoria, Diana Huse, Morten, 222–230. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008.Google Scholar
Fairfax, L. M. “Clogs in the Pipeline: The Mixed Data on Women Directors and Continued Barriers to their Advancement.” Maryland Law Review 65 (2006): 579.Google Scholar
Fairfax, Lisa. “Board Diversity Revisited: New Rationale, Same Old Story?” North Carolina Law Review 89 (2011): 854.Google Scholar
Fennema, Meindert Schijf, Huibert. “Elites in Nederland.” In Nederlandse Elites in De Twintigste Eeuw: Continuiteit en Verandering, edited by Fennema, Meindert Schijf, Huibert, 7–14. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Fleron, Frederic J. Jr. “Cooptation as a Mechanism of Adaption to Change: The Soviet Political Leadership System.” Polity 2, no. 2 (Winter 1969): 176–201.Google Scholar
Forbes, D. P. Milliken, F. J. “Cognition and Corporate Governance: Understanding Boards of Directors as Strategic Decision-Making Groups.” Academy of Management Review 24, no. 3 (1999): 489–505.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark S. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78 (1973): 1360–80.Google Scholar
Greve, H. R. Mitsuhashi, H. “Power and Glory: Concentrated Power in Top Management Teams.” Organization Studies 28, no. 8 (2007): 1197–221.Google Scholar
Haasnoot, Shirley. “Ondernemer Paul Fentener Van Vlissingen: ‘Ik moest iets studeren waarmee ik altijd mijn boterham kon verdienen’.” Historisch Nieuwsblad 11, no. 5 (2002): 4–9.Google Scholar
Heemskerk, Eelke M. “De Internationalisering van de Nederlandse Financieel Economische Bestuurselite.” In Nederlandse Elites in De Twintigste Eeuw, edited by Fennema, Meindert, 39–56. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Heemskerk, Eelke M. Fennema, Meindert. “Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite.” International Sociology 24, no. 6 (2009): 807–32.Google Scholar
Heemskerk, Eelke M. Mokken, Robert J. Fennema, Meindert. “The Fading of the State: Corporate-Government Networks in the Netherlands.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53, no. 4 (2012): 253–74.Google Scholar
Heminway, J. M. “Sex, Trust, and Corporate Boards.” Bepress Legal Series (2006). Working Paper 1527, August 2002.Google Scholar
Jianakoplos, Nancy Ammon Bernasek, Alexandra. “Are Women More Risk Averse?” Economic Enquiry 36, no. 4 (October 1998): 620–30.Google Scholar
Kramer, V. W. Konrad, A. M. Erkut, S. Hooper, M. J..“Critical Mass on Corporate Boards: Why Three or More Women Enhance Governance.” Directors Monthly 31, no. 2 (02 2007): 19–22.Google Scholar
Langevoort, D. C. “Puzzles about Corporate Boards and Board Diversity.” North Carolina Law Review 89 (2011): 841–1055.Google Scholar
Lückerath-Rovers, M. “Women on Boards and Firm Performance.” Journal of Management and Governance 17, no. 2 (May 2013): 491–509.Google Scholar
McPherson, Miller Smith-Lovin, Lynn Cook, James M.. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 415–44.Google Scholar
Miller, T. del Carmen Triana, M. “Demographic Diversity in the Boardroom: Mediators of the Board Diversity–firm Performance Relationship.” Journal of Management Studies 46, no. 5 (2009): 755–86.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, Andrew M. “On Studying Managerial Elites.” Strategic Management Journal 13 (Winter 1992): 163–82.Google Scholar
Schmidt, S. L. Brauer, M. “Strategic Governance: How to Assess Board Effectiveness in Guiding Strategy Execution.” Corporate Governance: An International Review 14, no. 1 (2006): 13–22.Google Scholar
Tocqueville, Alexis de. “Democracy in America.” In Great Books of the Western World, edited by Adler, Mortimer J., vol. 44. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica (1840), 1990.Google Scholar
Van Veen, Kees Marsman, Ilse. “How International Are Executive Boards of European MNCs? Nationality Diversity in 15 European Countries.” European Management Journal 26, no. 3 (2008): 188–98.Google Scholar
Visser, J. “The First Part-Time Economy in the World: A Model to be Followed?” Journal of European Social Policy 12, no. 1 (2002): 23–42.Google Scholar
Washington, M. Zajac, Edward J. “Status Evolution and Competition: Theory and Evidence.” The Academy of Management Journal 48, no. 2 (2005): 282–96.Google Scholar
Westphal, James D. Khanna, Poonam. “Keeping Directors in Line: Social Distancing as a Control Mechanism in the Corporate Elite.” Administrative Science Quarterly 48 (2003): 361–98.Google Scholar
Wilkins, David B. “From ‘Separate Is Inherently Unequal’ to ‘Diversity is Good for Business’: The Rise of Market-Based Diversity Arguments and the Fate of the Black Corporate Bar.” Harvard Law Review 117, no. 5 (March 2004): 1548–615.Google Scholar

Newspapers and Magazines

Mees, Heleen Kroes, Neelie. “Meer Vrouwen Aan De Top - Desnoods Verplicht.” NRC Handelsblad, October 17, 2006.Google Scholar
Pfister, Rene Schult, Christoph. “Gender Quota Debate: We Have to Rethink Our Entire Social Model.” Spiegel Online, March 27, 2012.Google Scholar
Rhode, D. Packel, A. “Diversity on Corporate Boards: How Much Difference Does Difference Make?” Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University Working Paper No. 89 (2010).Google Scholar

Reports

Alliance for Board Diversity. “Women and Minorities on Fortune 100 Boards.” http://theabd.org/Women%20and%20Minorities%20on%20F100%20Boards_2008.pdf, 2008.Google Scholar
Catalyst. Women on Board: Quick Takes. New York: Catalyst, 2012.Google Scholar
Portegijs, W., B. Hermans, en V. Lalta. Emancipatiemonitor 2006. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau/Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2007.Google Scholar
Merens, Ans van den Brakel, Marion Hartgers, Marijke Hermans, B.. Emancipatiemonitor 2010. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau and Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2011.Google Scholar
Merens, Ans Hartgers, Marijke van den Brakel, Marion. Emancipatiemonitor 2012. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau and Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2013.Google Scholar

Unpublished Works

Barnes, Roy C. “The Organizational Mosaic of U.S. Corporate Directors.” Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Network for Social Network Analysis, Corfu Island, Greece, May 4, 2007.Google Scholar