Gender equity initiatives: Good intentions and unintended consequences

Researching gender equity issues can be a dispiriting endeavour. For decades, researchers have documented the low representation of women in senior management roles and lamented the gender gap in salary. Today there may be... [ view full abstract ]

Researching gender equity issues can be a dispiriting endeavour. For decades, researchers have documented the low representation of women in senior management roles and lamented the gender gap in salary. Today there may be new cause for optimism as more countries leverage their legislative and regulatory powers to motivate organizations to be more proactive and more innovative in their gender equity efforts. For example, Australia’s ASX Corporate Governance Council introduced reporting standards requiring organizations to disclose the number of women at senior levels on an “if not, why not?” basis. The reporting standards are widely credited with a spike in the number of women occupying board and senior management positions but research suggests that the standards may have equivocal – and ironic – long run effects on gender equity. The keynote will celebrate the good intentions evident in the activity surge around gender equity but will also highlight some unintended consequences. In particular, the keynote will encourage researchers to reflect on how we can best approach the study of gender equity to ensure that our research plays a positive role in public debates.