FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN BUSINESS: WHY ARE WOMEN UNDERREPRESENTED ON CORPORATE BOARDS?

Abstract

Background: Publicly traded companies in the United States construct unique and valuable corporate boards to oversee performance and determine best business practices. The board is the highest authority in an organization’s structure. While businesswomen continue to become powerhouses in corporations, there lies an underrepresentation of women on corporate boards of publicly traded companies in the United States. This underrepresentation in the business landscape poses inclusion, performance, and opportunity concerns. Objective: To determine why an underrepresentation of women on corporate boards of publicly traded companies in the United States exists and assess the value women bring as members of these boards Methods: A qualitative research method, specifically content analysis, will be implemented to examine the representation of women on corporate boards in three separate industries: the information technology industry, the finance industry, and the consumer products industry. Results: Businesswomen face both professional and personal barriers when trying to climb the corporate ladder to a seat on the board. However, when these barriers are overcome, female board members add both financial and managerially value to corporations. There currently is in imbalance between male and female board members in the consumer products, finance, and information technology industry.