Gender quotas and possible barriers to women's path to top management

Abstract

The main goal of the article is twofold. On the one hand to analyse the attitude towards gender quotas and gender balance in business management. On the other hand to understand which barriers women face on the way to top-level positions. We use three datasets; a telephone survey based on national register, a questionnaire among managers and interviews with managers and board members. The results show that even if managers and people in general see it as important to increase the number of women in economic decision-making, there is some scepticism towards gender quotas, especially among male managers. We also see gender differences in the view of what explains the fact that fewer women than men belong to the top leadership of business. As Iceland is the second country in the world to implement a law on gender quota in company boards, it is important to research the effects of the legislation and to see if, for example, the quotas result in more women being promoted to leading positions in business in general.