6.2.4 Gender equality organizational interventions

The results of the empirical study described in Chapter 4 have shown that the implementation of specific diversity policies and goals works best for generating more diversity on corporate boards. In order to ascertain what these policies entail and additionally to gain in-depth knowledge about how the identified gender equality organizational interventions work in practice, Chapter 5 examines these organizational interventions in-depth. In Chapter 5, sub-research questions 4 and 5 are answered:

How have Dutch companies implemented organizational interventions to increase the number of women at the corporate top and to achieve gender equality; and

How do organizational interventions overcome the barriers to women’s advancement and contribute to getting more women into the corporate top?

The research in Chapter 5 was conducted by means of qualitative case study research conducted at four large Dutch companies. This approach was chosen in order to gain in-depth knowledge concerning the type of interventions implemented by these companies. Data was collected from multiple evidentiary sources, i.e., interviews, policy documents in which the interventions are described, and annual reports. In total, 29 interviews were conducted, 28 of which were used. The case study research aims to provide insights into the quality and quantity of the interventions and the perception as to the effectiveness of those interventions on the part of the four companies included in the case study. The data in this chapter was analyzed by means of template analysis.

The case study research first described the per-case analysis, in which each specific company’s interventions were discussed. After the per-case analysis, the findings were analyzed by means of a cross-case analysis. The research identified 23 interventions that had been implemented by the four large Dutch companies. These interventions were categorized into four categories, which are: (1) interventions that aim specifically at increasing gender equality for women; (2) interventions that aim to support (wo)men in the organization and outside of the workplace; (3) interventions with a broader scope – HR interventions; and (4) interventions aimed at realizing an (gender) inclusive workplace.

In all companies investigated in the case study research, the percentage of women on corporate boards is 30 percent or more. However, the findings of this research show that women are less well represented in other levels of the organization. Indeed, the percentage of women decreases the higher up you go in the organization. This finding was consistent for every company investigated and was, therefore, also the case for the company that had implemented the largest number of interventions. The research, therefore, gives an indication that the number of interventions per se is not particularly relevant for the number of women at the corporate top. However, the research also found that the interview participants believe that interventions are necessary. The findings show that commitment from the top is perceived to be of paramount importance for the success of gender equality interventions and for increasing the number of women at the corporate top. The findings furthermore show that it is difficult to determine whether the interventions indeed lead to more women at the corporate top. Nevertheless, most respondents do feel that the interventions are effective in increasing the number of women at the corporate top. The research also identified a few barriers that were not among the barriers that were found in Chapter 2, but a degree of overlap was also identified between the barriers that were found in the study in Chapter 2 and the study in Chapter 5. In one of the companies the organizational culture was found to be a major barrier to women’s progress to the corporate top. Conversely, in another company, a company culture that is supportive of women was believed to contribute to increasing the number of women at the corporate top.

The discussion paragraph of Chapter 5 touches briefly upon the question how the identified organizational interventions could help in overcoming barriers to women’s advancement. A more extensive discussion of barriers and how they can be overcome by means of the identified interventions is found in the next section (Section 6.3). The research in Chapter 5 contributes to the research question by discussing and analyzing the organizational interventions implemented in the investigated companies and whether these interventions contribute to achieving gender equality at the corporate top of those companies. The research contributes to filling the existing gap in the literature by identifying the organizational interventions implemented by companies. Studies in the extant literature that were conducted in the Netherlands were mainly conducted at universities and not at companies. The research contributes to theory, i.e., liberal feminism, because the findings of the study indicate that most of the identified interventions fall in the category of interventions that focus on equipping women or creating equal opportunities. A finding that is contrary to liberal feminism is the barrier organizational culture that was found in one of the investigated companies. This finding gives an indication that organizations are not gender-neutral, as claimed by liberal feminists, but that they are gendered. The finding that organizations are gendered is a finding that does not contribute to liberal feminism, but contributes to other feminist theories, such as socialist feminism and post-structuralist feminism.