6.3.0 Introductie

The central question that this PhD research answers is how gender equality at the corporate top of companies can be achieved and how existing barriers to women’s advancement can be overcome by means of governmental and organizational interventions. The research question was formulated as follows:

How can gender equality at the corporate top of Dutch companies be achieved and how can existing barriers be overcome through governmental and organizational interventions?

It has been explained in Chapter 1 of this PhD dissertation and in Section 6.2 of this concluding chapter how each of the chapters in this PhD dissertation contributes to answering the main research question. Additional insights can be gained by synthesizing the findings of each chapter. The central research question will be answered by referencing to the identified barriers and the governmental and organizational interventions that can be used to overcome such barriers. The identified barriers and the interventions aimed at overcoming the barriers are illustrated in Figure 6.1 and will be discussed in more detail in the sections hereafter.

Note. This figure is made by Lisa Dröes on the instructions of the author.

The remainder of this concluding chapter first discusses the barriers that were identified in Chapter 2 in relation to the governmental and organizational interventions identified in Chapters 3 and 5 and how these barriers can be overcome by virtue of these interventions (Section 6.3.1). Second, the barriers that were identified in Chapter 5 will be discussed in relation to the governmental and organizational interventions identified in Chapters 3 and 5 (Section 6.3.2). Third, the governmental and organizational interventions are discussed that could not be directly linked to the identified barriers and it is further discussed why these interventions are still important (Section 6.3.3). Fourth, additional interventions are presented for the barriers identified in Chapters 2 and 5 for which no suitable interventions could be found among the identified interventions (Section 6.3.4). Fifth, the discussion of barriers and interventions is summarized, and a conclusion is presented (Section 6.3.5). Sixth, the findings of the research are discussed from the perspective of the theoretical lens applied to this PhD research, which is liberal feminism (Section 6.3.6). Finally, the practical implications of the study are discussed (Section 6.3.7).