This important new book addresses the growing international interest in women on corporate boards of directors. The contributors explore the position of women on corporate boards and future trends in different countries including Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Jordan, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Tunisia, the UK and the USA. They go on to report the latest research on the experiences and different contributions made by women directors on corporate boards. Issues discussed include: How women directors champion difficult issues and debates How women influence boardroom behaviour The contribution of women directors' human and social capital Gendered experiences and the glass cliff The glass ceiling or a bottleneck? Networking to harness local power for national impact Women on board in best practice companies Whether critical mass makes a difference? Future directions for research. Women on Corporate Boards of Directors brings together the significant international research base with suggestions aimed at individuals aspiring to board membership, women and men currently serving on corporate boards, companies interested in attracting women to their boards, and government bodies wanting to identify the challenges and opportunities facing them as they consider various options for increasing women's representation on corporate boards. This will also be an important book for academics interested in women directors, women's careers at senior levels in organizations and workforce diversity.

This volume, the first to focus exclusively on women serving on corporate boards of directors, provides the latest thinking and research findings on this increasingly important corporate governance issue. It includes censuses of women directors in a number of countries, identifies reasons for their limited numbers, indicates why appointing qualified women to boards offers competitive advantages, and suggests practical ways corporations can attract, recruit and appoint more women board members. Researchers interested in gender and corporate governance issues, companies interested in increasing their numbers of women board members, and women and men serving or hoping to serve on corporate boards will find this book of interest.

This volume introduces readers to recent developments in the fields of board of directors and corporate social responsibility. It also provides new insights and perspectives on corporate governance practices in different countries.

Female presence and involvement on boards improves firm performance, transforms corporate governance and leads to the transition towards more responsible business. Corporate boards are essential bodies for governance and management and their efficiency determines a company's performance. The board is a crucial element of the corporate governance structure and its efficiency and performance determines the success of the operation and monitoring of the company. The board is viewed as the liaison between providers of capital (shareholders) and managers who use this capital to create value. The board role is to represent, formulate and fulfill the interests and expectations of shareholders as the owners of the companies. The discussion surrounding female participation in business inevitably needs to refer to their presence on corporate boards. It is also a reliable indicator of a gender equality policy and advancement, adopted by countries and companies. The book traces the logic behind the decision patterns of female involvement in governance and management. In particular, it identifies the patterns of women's presence on corporate boards, with respect to theoretical and conceptual argumentation, policy and regulatory implication, as well as practical adaptation. The phenomenon of women on corporate boards is analyzed in the context of different political, cultural and institutional environments addressing challenges in both developed and emerging economies. The role of female directors is viewed as one of the crucial aspects in corporate governance, adding to the quality of control and management.

Getting Women on to Corporate Boards will prove an invaluable resource for policy-makers, principle-setters, practitioners and students interested in the international lessons from Norway, as well as for current and potential female directors.

Both the practitioner and academic communities have voiced strong opinions regarding the progress of women in reaching the executive suite and the corporate boardroom. Proponents on each side of the current debate offer evidence suggesting the accuracy of their respective positions. One view holds: "The fight is over. The battle is won. Women are now accepted as outside directors in the preponderance of corporate boardrooms" (Lear, 1994: 10). An alternative perspective, however, suggests there is much progress left. An illustration of the type of remaining barriers is provided by T. J. Rodgers, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. , who has commented that "a 'woman's view' on how to run our semiconductor company does not help us" (Rodgers, 1996: 14). Regardless of where one falls along the spectrum anchored at one end by the view that women have made substantial progress in reaching the upper echelons of corporations and anchored at the other end by the view that women have barely begun to penetrate the "inner sanctum" of corporations, the central issue is the extent to which women have succeeded in cracking the proverbial "glass ceiling. " The glass ceiling is a metaphorical barrier which prevents women from attaining the upper-most organizational positions (e. g. , Karr, 1991; Morrison, White, Van Velsor, and the Center for Creative Leadership, 1992; Powell & Butterfield, 1994; U. S. Department of Labor, 1991).