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The European Union (EU) has recently adopted gender quotas for corporate boards (CBQ), anticipating ripple effects on women’s careers in the companies concerned, as well as throughout the economy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether CBQ has spurred ripple effects and discuss mechanisms hindering or facilitating women’s occupancy of top executive positions.

Norway was the first country in the world to introduce CBQ in 2003, with full effect from 2008. The policy requires company boards to be composed of 40% of each gender. Drawing on original data mapping boards and executive committees in Norway’s 200 largest companies, the authors analyze the association between CBQ and the gender composition of executive management almost 15 years after the full implementation. The data include both companies covered by the CBQ and large companies not covered.

The investigation does not find a positive association between CBQ and more women in executive positions. Thus, the ripple effect hypothesis of CBQ is not supported. CBQ may have contributed to an increased awareness of gender imbalances, yet these findings indicate that to achieve more gender balance in executive positions, scholars and practitioners may need to focus more on gendered conditions and processes in organizations and society throughout executive careers than on the gender composition of boards.

This paper provides empirical analyses of original data 15 years after the implementation of CBQ. The authors further contribute to scholarly debate by identifying and discussing possible mechanisms that explain how requiring more women on corporate boards may – or may not – have ripple effects on executive management.

This research aims to explore the role of banks in supporting women agriculture entrepreneurs (WAEs) to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It focusses on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector, recognising their vital role in driving economic growth and achieving the SDGs.

The study utilises the role congruity theory and the feminist agri-food systems model as its theoretical framework. Qualitative data from 35 WAEs and 7 bank managers (BMs) responsible for agricultural financial services and business development are collected and thematically analysed to achieve the research objectives.

Although BMs claim they offer specialised financial products with dedicated support teams, WAEs express scepticism due to fears of unfavourable deals and excessive requirements. WAEs need more understanding of SDGs but recognise their substantial contributions. BMs acknowledge the need to enhance efforts, improve communication of offers and integrate SDGs across all business operations beyond agriculture and women-centric initiatives.

Banks must prioritise gender sensitivity and inclusivity for WAEs, offering tailored financial products and flexible loan structures. Microfinance and strategic marketing can enhance outreach. WAEs benefit from forming associations, accessing support networks, collaborating with banks, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and agricultural associations for mentoring and networking, and achieving the SDGs and sustainable agriculture.

The study connects WAEs and banks in achieving SDGs.

This study aims to investigate the research question: how do women leaders in the professional business services (PBS) sector develop and approach workplace (in)authenticity?

Ten senior women leaders in the Midlands region of the UK were purposefully selected and interviewed. A semi-structured approach meant that the author adopted a social constructionist paradigm and feminist interpretation. Questions were designed to elicit rich descriptions from the participants. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to address the study’s purpose.

Four themes were important to women when they developed and approached workplace (in)authenticity: (1) Power Structures, (2) Fit to Belong, (3) Influential Femininity and (4) Through Her Evolution. Women described masculine-majority organisations exerting power. They were pressured into altering their behaviours to “fit” into workplaces. When women had the latitude to be themselves, their leadership excelled. Women’s authenticity developed through increased self-knowledge, helping them to overcome workplace challenges. The study concluded that women face complexities when developing and approaching their constructions of authenticity, namely in the barriers and ramifications they face.

The study suggests several implications for practice and theory concerning enablers and barriers to women leaders' workplace authenticity. The link between authenticity and workplace gender equity needs to be investigated.

The study provides evidence that women are challenged when becoming authentic, therefore, altering their careers irrecoverably in some cases.

This paper addresses the issue of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions within the information and communication technology (ICT) and engineering fields. The study examines the complex issue of vertical segregation and gender equality by exploring the barriers that women encounter and the potential coping strategies they adopt to advance in their careers.

The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 women at middle and upper management levels in the ICT and engineering sectors. This approach aims to better understand women's workplace experiences and gain deeper insights into the nature of the barriers they face.

The study identifies four main factors hindering women's progression toward senior management positions, namely working hours, work-family conflict, social role stereotypes and second-generation bias. The results also offer useful insights into the coping strategies adopted by women to overcome these barriers.

The study highlights the persisting underrepresentation of women in senior positions, indicating a societal and organizational lag in terms of inclusion and equity. It underscores the importance of developing effective policies to address the challenges faced by employees striving to balance their work and family commitments. Training is recognized as an important tool for raising awareness about gender stereotypes among employees and reducing second-generation bias.

This study provides valuable lessons derived from its findings, including potential strategies that organizations can implement to help women navigate and overcome workplace barriers in the ICT and engineering fields.

This study aims to answer two questions: (a) what obstacles and opportunities do Chinese female entrepreneurs face when doing business? And (b) how do they negotiate their entrepreneurial careers and gender identities in different gender-segregated markets?

This study uses qualitative research methods of participant observation and in-depth interviews with 41 female entrepreneurs in China and the theoretical lenses of gender role theory and doing gender in entrepreneurship.

The study findings reveal that Chinese female entrepreneurs face different obstacles and opportunities in gender-segregated industries. Their experiences vary in industries that are mainly occupied by males and females. On the one hand, women in female-dominated industries may be supported by a feminine working environment that is coherent with their domestic roles. However, they may also be questioned on the cultural impurity implied in some industries, which harms their class-based feminine virtue. On the other hand, women in male-dominated industries may be challenged and marginalized due to their gender. However, some find ways to turn the disadvantaged feminine characters into favourable conditions and break out of the stereotypical gender constraints in doing business.

This study contributes to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship in general. More specifically, it contributes to the study of doing gender in gender-segregated markets, and it also illustrates women’s gendered opportunities and constraints in Chinese society that are affected by the long-lasting traditional gender norms.

This study aims to understand how consumers evaluate downscale vertical line extensions of a prestige/luxury original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the European automotive market. The authors investigate the moderator effects of innovativeness and the need-for-status traits on the relationships between consumers' extension perceived fit (EPF), extension attitude (EA) and extension perceived value (EPV).

Experimental design with quantitative analyses based on a sample of 419 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to two treatments: low-fit and high-fit extension simulations.

The purchase intention of the downscale vertical extension of a luxury OEM brand is directly influenced by EPV and indirectly influenced by consumer EA and EPF with the parent brand. Findings also suggest that parent brand equity is transferable to extensions that present closeness and consistency with the brand’s heritage. Moreover, the need for status strengthens the relationship between the EPF and the extension perceived social value (EPSV).

The authors developed a realistic simulation of a downscale model of a well-known prestige/luxury car brand. The authors test the influence of innovativeness and need-for-status personal traits on consumer extension acceptance.

This paper critically examines the effectiveness of male anchor in cross-gender endorsements and questions whether it can truly deliver positive outcomes for advertisers in the context of live streaming. It explores the underlying mechanisms of this effect by examining the mediation effect of perceived gender-identity incongruence and the moderation effect of anchor presence.

Three experiments are conducted to examine the effect of cross-gender endorsement on purchase intention.

The findings from three experiments provide empirical evidence that the endorsement of female-gendered products by male anchors leads to a significant decrease in the evaluation of these products among female consumers. This negative effect is mediated by a sense of gender-identity incongruence experienced by female consumers. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that female customers exhibit higher purchase intent for female-gendered products endorsed by male virtual anchors compared to real anchors; however, the same pattern was not observed in the case of female anchors.

This paper empirically examines the possible negative effects of the male anchor endorsement in the live streaming context. It reveals the underlying mechanism of this negative effect, and how the virtual “presence” take a role in this underlying mechanism.

This research examines the effect of team diversity on customer behavior (purchase likelihood) associated with sustainable luxury products and further considers the mediating role of customer skepticism and the moderating role of the growth mindset in these relationships.

Study 1 aims to confirm the direct effect of team diversity on purchase intention and the mediating effect of customer skepticism. Featuring a fictitious brand, Study 2 seeks to test the moderating effects of a growth mindset. This research recruits participants located in the USA who have shopping experiences with a luxury product.

The findings support the notion that team diversity can mitigate customers' skepticism while enhancing purchase likelihood. Moreover, this effect is stronger among those with a growth mindset. As such, the findings suggest that communicating the heterogeneous composition of team members can benefit sustainable luxury brands.

Underpinned by the signaling theory and incremental theory, this research examines the effects of team diversity on customer behavior (purchase likelihood) related to sustainable luxury products, as well as the role of customer skepticism (as a mediator) and a growth mindset (as a moderator) in these relationships. Thus, the findings broaden the current diversity research which has predominantly focused on team decision-making and performance.

Although event industry employees are predominantly female, there is a critical scarcity of women in leadership roles. Like other industries worldwide, women in the events industry experience several barriers to leadership roles. The unique characteristics of the events industry exacerbate these barriers and have led to more women leaving the company or even the industry. This study aims to investigate the impact of leadership barriers, including the perception of a glass ceiling and the importance of leadership skills in promotion decisions on career satisfaction, work-family conflict and turnover intention of employees in the events industry.

Data was collected from members of an international event association, and 427 responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings suggested the perception of a glass ceiling and the importance of leadership skills in promotion can impact career satisfaction, work-family conflict and turnover intention of employees in the events industry.

This study extends the scope of research on leadership barriers beyond assessing their causes by analyzing their outcomes in the event industry. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first in event research and the broader hospitality industry to consider the perceptions of male and female employees regarding leadership barriers by using a foundation of the social role theory.

Pregnant employees experience considerable interpersonal discrimination. This study explores the range of possible reactions of observers to pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and various allyship interventions, and the attentional processes that lead to those reactions. Consequently, it uncovers socio-cognitive processes underlying support for and backlash toward pregnancy in the workplace.

This study used a thought-listing technique to explore observers’ spontaneous thoughts related to pregnancy. Working adults were randomly assigned to read through one of the six scenarios depicting pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and male allyship interventions (i.e. stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy, confronting the transgressor by calling out sexism, pivoting the conversation to highlight the strengths of the pregnant employee and a hybrid intervention combining highlighting strengths and confrontation) after which participants listed the top three thoughts that came to their mind (1,668 responses). Responses were thematically analyzed to explore spontaneous reactions toward the pregnant employee, transgressor and ally in the scenario.

Surprisingly, across all scenarios, the most sexist thoughts emerged during pregnancy self-disclosure, even in the absence of any transgression. After a transgression occurred, any allyship intervention was better than none in eliciting lesser sexist backlash against the pregnant employee. Stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy was most beneficial for the pregnant employee in eliciting the least sexist backlash but at the cost of generating unfavorable impressions of the ally. Calling out the transgressor’s bias elicited the most sexist backlash toward the pregnant employee, yet it created favorable impressions of the ally. In contrast, highlighting the strengths of the pregnant employee created the most favorable impression of the ally while eliciting a few sexist thoughts about the pregnant employee. Overall, the hybrid intervention was the most effective at balancing the competing goals of generating support for the pregnant employee, creating favorable impressions of the ally, as well as holding the transgressor accountable.

This study demonstrates that the type of allyship intervention critically redirects the attentional focus of observers to certain aspects of a discrimination episode and relevant schemas which can generate support or backlash toward targets, transgressors and allies, thereby advancing or obstructing equity and inclusion in organizations.