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This study aims to explore the impact of board size, board gender diversity and federation age on the likelihood of having a female chair in National Sports Federations (NSF).

A quantitative methodology compares 300 sports boards in five countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the UK), using data collected from NSF’s websites.

The board size and federation age have no significant impact on having a female board chair when the countries and the percentage of female directors are included in the model. When the number of women is measured in absolute value rather than in relative terms, the only variable that predicts a woman chair is the country. When the model does not include country differences, the percentage of female directors is key in predicting a chairwoman, and when the number of women is used as a variable instead of the percentage, a board’s smaller size increases the odds of having a chairwoman.

There are some limitations to this study which we believe provide useful directions for future research. Firstly, the authors have not considered the role of gender typing in sports activities which explains the extent that women participate in specific sports (Sobal and Milgrim, 2019) and the related perception of such sports in society. The social representation of sports activities classified as masculine, feminine or gender-neutral can hypothetically influence women’s access to that specific federations’s leadership. The authors included the country factor only partially, as a control variable, as the social representation of sports usually goes beyond national boundaries.

This study has implications for sport policymakers and stakeholders, and for institutions such as the IOC or the European Union that implement equality policies. If the aim is to increase female presence in the highest position of a sports board and to achieve gender equality more generally, other policies need to be implemented alongside gender quotas for the sports boards, namely, those specifically related to the recruitment and selection of the sports board chairs (Mikkonen et al., 2021). For example, given the implications of critical mass and its ability to increase more female’s engagement then the role of existing chairs acting as mentors and taking initiative in this objective may be warranted. Furthermore, attention should be paid to the existing gender portfolio of each board and its subsequent influence on recruiting a female chair, regardless of the organization’s age. Knoppers et al. (2021) concluded that resistance to gender balance by board members is often related to discriminatory discourses against women. The normalization of the discourses of meritocracy, neoliberalism, silence/passivity about the responsibility of structures and an artificial defence of diversity emphasise that equality should not only be determined by women (Knoppers et al., 2021).

When countries are included in the model, the results suggest that the social representation of a female board member is different from that of a female board chair.

The originality of the study is that it shows the factors that constrain women taking up a chair position on NSFs. Theoretically, it contributes to existing literature by demonstrating how a critical mass of females on boards may also extend to the higher and most powerful position of chair.

This exploratory study aims to compare how businesswomen with different initial bounds to their businesses resort to gender discourses to construct a shared business identity in group interaction.

The study was conducted with two focus groups of Portuguese businesswomen with different initial bounds to their enterprises: those who created their own companies and those who “inherited” family businesses. All the participants of both groups own and manage their businesses.

A discourse analysis of the interactions shows that the identities of businesswomen are constrained and produced by different masculinities (authority, professionalism and self-determination) and femininities (restrictive and emancipatory). The interweaving of these gender discourses results in the production of a “respect” identity in the family businesses group and a “self-determination” identity in the start-up businesses group.

The comparison of the different business identities shared by women with particular business experiences contributes to reflections upon the diversified contours that gender discrimination can undertake, and upon the need of practitioners to adjust the gender policies according to those particular experiences.

The paper compares and highlights how Portuguese businesswomen with different business backgrounds collectively construct specific and shared business identities that allow them to deal with diverse experiences of gender discrimination and devaluation.

To date, research on migration and entrepreneurship has rarely focused expat-preneurs. Based on recent developments in both fields, this paper aims to investigate the under-researched phenomenon of Chinese self-initiated expatriates who choose to temporarily live and do business abroad on their own volition.

To address this research gap, 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese expat-preneurs living in Portugal were conducted, exposing their narratives about their multiple challenges.

The findings corroborate the theoretical need to look beyond narrow economic explanations for why individuals engage in transnational entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial itinerancy. A collective identity and ethnic community are important because they influence how opportunities are identified and pursued.

This is a qualitative and interpretative study in a limited geographical area, which does not intent to ensure generalizability. More research is needed to further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurial itinerancy in Europe and among other ethnic communities.

The findings provide insightful inputs to Portuguese policymakers and locals on how to support ethnic entrepreneurship. Chinese expat-preneurs also benefit from understanding how to strength their ethnic social ties in connection with local communities.

This study contributes to the entrepreneurship and international mobility literatures by providing new insights into the nature and dynamics of Chinese “expat-preneurs”, including their entrepreneurial itinerancy, necessary to properly understand entrepreneurs’ diversity and assist in extending transnational entrepreneurial theory.

In spite of the progress made in the last decades, women still face difficulties in being accepted and recognised as managers. The manager’s role has been perceived as masculine, and the gender stereotypes are therefore, a barrier to women’s access to management. With the aim to explore the relationship between gender stereotypes and management characteristics and discuss its implications for the discrimination of women in management a study was conducted among Portuguese undergraduate management students. The findings indicate that students of both sexes tend to perceive the “manager” category as closer to the masculine stereotype than to the feminine stereotype. Additionally, for male students the “man manager” and “manager” are more similar to each other than the “woman manager” and “manager” categories. However, the image of “woman manager” appears not to distance itself considerably from the “manager” stereotype as a result of her masculinisation. This paper discusses the implications of this asymmetric gender social representation that ultimately hinders the acceptance of women as a social group in the management context.

The market system and a materialistic lifestyle have contributed to some of the environmental and social problems that currently affect the world. However, only a few consumers are willing to express ecological oriented consumption. This study aims to analyse how organic food consumers build a green identity, as well as the new expressions that arise from this identity construction.

A hermeneutical approach was adopted to address the narratives of 31 frequent consumers of organic products motivated by environmental issues. The narratives were collected through the interview method, which was further complemented by participant observation.

The following five phases of identity formation were identified: consciousness, gathering, negotiation, stabilisation and sharing. By looking at the different identity stages, it becomes visible how organic consumption and pro-environmental behaviours act as transformative practices, promoting ecological activism and fortifying a green identity.

This study extends the “processual theory of identity” by analysing how organic products help shape consumer practices and their lifestyle. Moreover, a contribution is provided on how we can build an ecological citizenship by reducing consumption and also by adopting alternative practices of consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the social stereotypes of the male and the female manager and their implications for the persistent inequalities between men and women in the management context.

The study was conducted using a sample of undergraduate management students who were asked to fill in a questionnaire containing a comprehensive list of descriptors of male and female managers.

The social stereotypes of the female and the male manager appear to be relatively close and reflecting the dimensions of instrumentality and rationality associated with the work and the management contexts. The similarity is explained by the adoption of the masculine subcategory as the referent to the female manager. In contrast with what was obtained for the female manager, respondents tend to associate the male manager exclusively with the public context. Female students, in particular, seem to assume the social constraints inherent to women as a social category, while perceiving the female manager as an outstanding individual who goes beyond what is expected for her gender group.

Future research needs to overcome thinking about gender as a dichotomy and start voicing the diversity of women and men managers as individuals.

The recognition and acceptance of women in management will not be achieved simply by the demographic feminisation of management. It requires questioning the symbolic meanings embedded in the management discourse and social practices that keep the masculine as the referent.

The findings point towards an asymmetric relationship between the meanings associated with the female and the male manager subcategories that lead to additional difficulties in the acceptance of women as managers and help to understand the inequalities that persist between men and women in management.

To introduce the special issue.

A brief description of the Gender and Management track at the European Academy of Management Conference and an outline of the papers in the issue.

The track examined various issues and the papers chosen from the track for the special issue are closest to the central concerns of the journal.

Provides a summary of the perspectives considered.