8.3 Mental deception and gender diversity at the top

Although gender diversity has been a hot topic for years and is given national and international attention, it is a fact that there have been fewer women than men at the top of Dutch corporations for years. This is despite research showing that the impact of (gender) diversity on the functioning of corporations is a positive one. With respect to this impact, a distinction can be made between economic reasoning, functional reasoning and social justification argumentation. A causal connection between (gender) diversity at the top and better financial results cannot be readily established. However, several studies on functional reasoning have shown that diversity leads, among other things, to different perspectives and points of view being put up for discussion. Furthermore, diversity fosters dialogue which can ultimately lead to better decision-making. In conclusion, based on the social justification argument, (gender) diversity at the top should be self-evident. Because men and women have equal rights, directly and indirectly.

The uneven distribution of seats at the top can also be explained from the perspective of implicit gender bias. Due to implicit gender bias, women are evaluated differently than men. This unequal evaluation tends to have a negative impact on women. Implicit gender bias manifests itself, among other things, in androcentrism (men are the norm, women are a deviation), in considering quality as objectivity, in a different evaluation of leadership, in same-sex favouring (preference in favour of one’s own gender), and in the false image of women among women themselves. As with other biases, it is not possible to have complete control over implicit gender bias. There are however certain mitigation techniques that may contribute to reducing the impact of implicit gender bias. The application of these techniques can ultimately help achieve a more balanced distribution of seats at the top of Dutch corporations. The mitigation techniques I suggest are related to the search for candidates, network influences, perception, diversity policies, the impact of leaders, and the implementation of a statutory gender quota.