Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

Gender diversity on corporate boards is a popular topic both in academic and in business publications, but the focus is typically on ‘how' rather than ‘why'. This paper argues that the motivation for seeking to increase the number of women on boards necessarily affects the means of achieving that goal. Indeed, some motivations may undermine one another. This paper argues that a clear rationale will positively affect the implementation of programs for change, and uses international examples as evidence that this is possible