The gender quota: not an audience favorite, but effective

Today, gender diversity in companies and gender equality are of great importance in many countries. Diversity has been a much-discussed topic in recent years, especially diversity within an organization's Board of Directors. Diversity at the top is so important because the glass ceiling makes it difficult for women to reach a top position. Attention to this subject is not illogical in the Netherlands, because if you look at the Glass ceiling index from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it paints an alarming picture. The Netherlands scores below average and ranks 25 out of 38 OECD member states.

This may seem abstract, but the concrete consequences of this miserable position can be seen in practice on many fronts. Take science, for example. In a recent op-ed in the Parool by professor Jojanneke van der Toorn and Michiel Kolman from Elsevier, it becomes clear how the glass ceiling there influences the careers of female scientists in practice. “Although the majority of graduates at Dutch universities are women, that percentage decreases rapidly with each step up the scientific career ladder. 43 percent of PhD students, 41 percent of assistant professors, 29 percent of associate professors and 24 percent of professors are women. Part-time work does not explain this picture: female scientists hardly do this more than their male colleagues,” write van der Toorn and Kolman. There is therefore a clear view of this problem, but political measures always remain sensitive. This applies not only to the Netherlands but also internationally.

Internationally, there have been many changes in legislation over the past fifteen years aimed at diversity at the top of organizations. There are several approaches that governments have taken to achieve greater diversity within the business community. One of them is a gender quota. In 2006, Norway was the first country in Europe to introduce such a quota. Since then, the country has achieved the highest percentage of female directors in the world. Norway became an example for other countries that strive to increase the share of women in business leadership. Countries such as Belgium, Spain, France and Iceland followed. The Netherlands was missing from this list for a long time, but this is finally changing.

In the Netherlands, a law has been passed by the House of Representatives regarding the women's quota. The law means that the Supervisory Board of listed companies must consist of at least 30% women, through a so-called growth quota. This means that when appointing a new board member, gender is taken into account in order to meet the legal quota. The future quota will not apply to the Board of Directors but will only come into effect at the Supervisory Board, the controlling body of a company. The Hague hopes this will ensure that as soon as more women join the Supervisory Board, more places on the boards of directors will also be allocated to women. 'We're breaking it old boys network and take a big step towards equality and diversity at the top of the business community," Minister Van Engelshoven said about the law. The minister's enthusiasm was not shared by everyone. Critics find the measure paternalistic. They claim that women then reach a position because they are women and because the quota simply has to be met.

This criticism is conceivable, but the discussion about desirability must include whether this problem can be solved without a quota. Out an analysis by NRC it has been shown that companies that are required to do this do succeed in increasing gender diversity. In the meantime, little improvement has taken place at companies without quota. The gender quota may not deserve the audience award, but it is a solution that will make a difference.

The uncomfortable truth is that being a woman can now ensure that you get a top position not reaches. That is a point that critics of the gender quota too easily ignore. This could be the solution to boost female leadership in the long term and finally break the glass ceiling.