Date/Time: 18 May 2017 16:00 - 18 May 2017 18:00

Venue: Newcastle University Business School room 2.13

Anne Laure Humbert, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Centre for Gender and Leadership at Cranfield School of Management. She has done extensive work in the area of women and/or gender within the economy and society, with particular attention to work and organisations, entrepreneurship, and the integration of work and life. This presentation is about more than bringing a definite answer to the divisive debates on whether ‘to quota or not to quota’ to bring about a greater representation of women on the boards of top publically listed companies. Instead it focuses on the context in which quotas are embedded. The presentation will discuss the results of two separate analysis based on EU data. The first examines whether progress with women’s board representation is related to having more gender equal societies or whether it is associated with legislated board quotas being implemented. The second examines support for quotas in relation to essentialist gender beliefs among the population, but also specifically among men leaders, to examine whether it is reasonable to assume that campaigns such as UNWomen’s ‘HeforShe’ are the way forward to bring about greater gender equality in organisations. The results of these two studies expand on debates about board quotas by adding a macro perspective on a topic that has been largely examined from the organisational level.