What are the Barriers of Entry for Women on Boards?

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor for supporting me throughout my project and giving his valuable suggestions. Finally thanks to all my friends and family for their utmost support and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It also represents my own views & not essentially the ones associated with university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

The study is about the barriers for the women to enter in boards in UK. In 2010 the corporate board members are only 12.5% on the FTSE 100 companies. This got up from 9.4% in 2004. This rate of growth in FTSE 100 companies of women board members is not fast. The gender balances in the corporate boards are widely recognized in the world. . When women are being under represented in the board, companies miss the talent which can be of possible wide range. The evidence suggested that companies who have many number of females in their board, they have been performing better than the others. The study uses a mix methodology. The qualitative data is extracted from interview done with the 12 female board directors in the FTSE100/250. The quantitative data is extracted from the EBSCO.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Theoretical framework2

Problem statement2

Aim and objective of the study3

Research questions4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Barriers to success5

Types of barriers12

Overcoming barriers24

Measures to improve28

Requirement of women on boards30

Value women bring to boards33

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY37

Introduction37

Research design37

Data collection39

Sample40

Descriptive data40

Ethical considerations41

Credibility / validity41

Dependability/ Reliability42

Conformability/ Objectivity42

Transferability / Generalizeability43

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS44

Findings from EBSCO44

Findings from interview48

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION53

Perceptions of Barriers55

Perceptions of strategies57

Implications of outcome60

Recommendation for future research63

REFERENCES65

APPENDICES73

Interview questionnaire73

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

Today, the boards of the largest companies listed on the stock of the Member States of the EU have only one woman for every ten men among their members. Santalainen (2011) it is clear that progress has been slow in this area in recent years. This is the top of the hierarchy that disparities are greatest. A woman is the head of the supreme decision-making in only 3% of the companies. We regret that women's talents are not exploited optimally (Kumra 2011, 458-82). Companies need to make better use of the talents and skills of women for U.K fulfil its objective, namely to become a dynamic, competitive and knowledge-based, at the time of globalization. Research from Kumra (2011) showed that there is a positive correlation between the females holding positions of responsibility and performance. The company examines the current situation and recent trends in the degree integration of women in the board (Santalainen 2011, 23-45).

A growing number of organizations are actively engaged in promoting the rise professional women. This study provides knowledge about some of these good practices. It includes the use of specific tools to enhance leadership potential women models, mentoring and networking. The encouragement from government, social partners and the ...