6.3.5 Conclusion barriers and interventions and response to main research question

The study on the identification of the barriers in Chapter 2 has shown that barriers are multifaceted and interrelated, meaning that barriers reinforce each other. The barrier gender stereotypes is the barrier that is intertwined the most with other barriers. At the same time, it is very hard to overcome this barrier because it cannot be overcome by governments or companies alone but needs the buy-in of society at large. This complicates matters. Due to the interrelatedness of the barriers and the fact that the barriers are multifaceted, the implementation of just one intervention will not result in gender equality at the corporate top. Instead, a holistic set of governmental and organizational interventions is needed to structurally address women’s underrepresentation and achieve gender equality at the corporate top. The current research does not reveal a magic number or combination of interventions that must be implemented in that respect but has shown that several interventions at least should be implemented that aim to overcome each of the barriers identified. The interrelatedness of the barriers shows that the barriers to women’s advancement can be described as the ‘seven-headed dragon’ of inequality, whereby each head represents another barrier that maintains gender inequality, as Van den Brink so aptly puts it.1 This metaphor of the seven-headed dragon is even more striking given that Chapter 2 of this PhD dissertation identified seven barriers to women’s advancement. Several swords (interventions) are needed if all seven dragon heads (barriers) are to be removed in one fell swoop.

All in all, and in answer to the research question, gender equality at the corporate top of Dutch companies can be achieved by the governmental interventions and organizational interventions that were identified in this PhD research. Most of the barriers that were identified can be overcome by the identified interventions adopted and implemented by governments and companies. However, not all interventions and barriers could be linked to each other, meaning that some barriers could not be related to specific interventions and vice versa. The above analysis showed that, although certain interventions could not be related to overcoming specific barriers, they are still important for women to feel respected in the workplace. For the barriers for which no interventions were identified, alternative interventions need to be designed at a governmental level and/or organizational level so that these barriers can also be overcome. More research and innovative thinking are required to eliminate these barriers.

As defined in Chapter 1, gender equality within the meaning of this PhD dissertation means that a 50-50 percent balance of men and women is achieved at the corporate top of companies. This is not (yet) reflected in all the companies dealt with in Chapter 5. Consequently, these companies must further effectuate their interventions or perhaps even implement more and additional interventions to achieve gender equality at their corporate top.