Comparative Review: Gender Diversity in Corporate Boards and Workplace

This report presents a comparative article review focusing on gender diversity in the workplace, analyzing two research papers: "The Paradox of Diversity Initiatives: When Organizational Needs Differ from Employee Preferences" and "Toward Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: Evaluating Government Quotas (EU) Versus Shareholder Resolutions (US) from the Perspective of Third Wave Feminism." The review examines the impact of gender discrimination on employee productivity and motivation, as highlighted in both papers. It contrasts the approaches of the US and EU in addressing gender diversity, particularly concerning quotas versus shareholder resolutions. The analysis delves into the authors' arguments, underlying assumptions, and methodologies, including experimental designs and statistical data analysis. The report reflects on the importance of government action and the potential outcomes of diversity initiatives, emphasizing the need for improved status of women in the workplace and the growing influence of women in corporate settings. The review also explores the effectiveness of identity-conscious versus identity-blind initiatives, the role of corporate boards, and the impact of the third wave of feminism on gender diversity efforts.

Running Head: COMPARATIVE ARTICLE REVIEW
COMPARATIVE ARTICLE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Comparative Article Review of “The Paradox of Diversity Initiatives: When
Organizational Needs Differ from Employee Preferences.Journal of Business
Ethics” and “Toward Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards: Evaluating
Government Quotas (Eu) Versus Shareholder Resolutions (Us) from the
Perspective of Third Wave Feminism.Philosophy of Management.”
Summary:
The research papers verge on the concept of women being ignored in the work place and
considered to be less productive than men. This has greatly affected the working ability as well
their motivation to work. The two papers Windscheid, Bowes-Sperry, Mazei and Morner (2017)
and Dobson, Hensley and Rastad (2018), the issue of gender discrimination has been discussed
and its impact is greatly discussed in the both the papers.
In Windscheid, Bowes-Sperry, Mazei and Morner (2017), the unemployment of women
has affected the organizations as there have a long strive for the gender inequality in the
organizations. The gender discrimination has resulted into the ineffectiveness of the companies
as there have been ineffectiveness of the concerned organizations. But there has been always the
problem of inequality in the workplace and the difference in the deliverance of the work in the
workplace is an important factor that is not looked upon in the recruitment process of the number
of female and male in the company. Even though the effectiveness of the identity conscious
initiatives for increasing the proportion of women, a lot of organizations have been quite
negligible and reluctant in implementing and certain action or taking initiatives so eradicate this
problem but the management has not been has not been able to strongly impact and efficiently
handle the situation so that it can control the number of the employee depending on the gender.

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Thus the maintenance of the gender equality is really at stake and the companies are suffering
and yet are failing to take required steps in this process as they are concerned about the currently
working employee who are working in the company and are not sure and about the reaction of
them, as the organizations are taking the factor that the current employees will be displeased and
not able to understand the requirement of the company and the need to take such steps.
According to the paper Dobson, Hensley and Rastad (2018), there are certain factors that
they highlighted on, like the US and the EU which have pursued the and has approached
differently in the several types of agendas that concentrate mainly on the decreasing and
diminishing the gender discrimination and also there are certain factors that both the US and the
EU have been focusing on that is creating a diversity among the number of the gender diversity.
Thus the need and the scope of gender diversity is main problem that they are facing as the
implementation of the gender diversity as there are several problems regarding the application
and taking the initiatives and implementing it in the workplace. Various organizations are of the
opinion that they are well aware of the fact they need to implement the fact of generating gender
quota system as they are suffering from efficiency and Excellency in the field of work. Thus the
factor of generation of the quota system is the main idea is expressed by both the US and the EU.
But both EU and US is facing the problem that the generation of the quota system based on the
matter of gender is causing several problems like, yielding of various deleterious side effects.
And it is being found out that the quota system may not be the good idea or policy to be
implemented as there are various broad statistical data proves that it will not serve the will of the
maximum. Generating of the quota system aiming for the promotion of gender diversity in the
workplace will not be able to generate the acceptance of the matter as diversity among the gender
but it will bring forth gender discrimination instead (Kamali, 2015).

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The authors’ ideas, arguments, underlying assumptions:
The authors have highlighted the factor of the intervention of the companies and the
negligence of the corporate sectors and in dealing with the diversity of gender in the workplace.
Thus the matter is analyzed internally and also evaluations are made by considering certain
variables and reflected in the research paper. In both the research papers the ideas are discussed
in based on the matter of having gender diversity in workplace, but the difference in the
approach has made the research works to be contrasting to each other. The two research works
focuses completely on idea of having quota system in the workplace so that it could contribute to
the amount to the number of the females compared to that of the male employee in various kinds
of organizations and corporate companies, this brought in the idea of the practical application of
the quota system, but the EU and the US has analyzed recent statistical data and also come up
and finally concluded that the idea of implementing of the quota may be not be effective at all as
the number of the male employee will always be high the population of the male is greater than
that of the females. Thus the generation of the quota system may lead to the disintegration of the
morale of the employees and also the motto of generating gender diversity will not be effective,
it will harm the initiative instated and may back fire (Kamali, 2015).
Therefore the matter of the effectiveness of the identity is looked into. This has resulted
in the developing and analyzing he factors of two different kinds of identities that are considered
to be vital in the workplace. The two different kinds of identities are identity conscious and
identity blind are considered to study the factor of people’s pursuit and the intentions that they
take or consider while joining in a company. The need of the companies and different
organizations for attracting talent in the field of competition of the labor, working efficiency is
needed and due to the result of gender discrimination the lack of efficiency and quality is

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degrading. Thus the matter is given special emphasis on the matter. In the study the authors have
considered several factors, firstly they have taken an experimental design and used in the
experiment and have successfully analyzed the concerning factors for gender discrimination
(Windscheid, Bowes-Sperry, Mazei and Morner, 2017).
On the other hand the due to the diversity quota and the proneness of the majority failing
may result in the increase of the rate of failure of the implementation of generating the diversity
among the gender. The failure rate may climb up to 95%. But the authors have successfully
analyzed the risk factors and have come up with the idea that the failure of the plans may serve
for generation of the gender diversity by learning and analyzing the facts from the failure of the
initiatives taken before. The implementation is suggested to be of the ‘folk’ wisdom that will be
infused by the corporate boards may be taken into account for the initiation of gender diversity.
Therefore the endogenous (US) mechanism of the board, deals with the diversity proposals
which will be dealing with the increase in the gender diversity and the exogenous (EU)
mechanism will be dealing with the government mandated quota system (Dobson, Hensley and
Rastad, 2018),
Further Comparison of the two pieces:
The methodology involved in the two research works is quite different but the topic of
emphasis and the main subject is the same. Therefore the factor of implementation of raising the
idea of gender diversity and the implementation of the quota system on emendation by the
government is primarily found in both the research works but there are some stark differences.
(Kamali, 2015).
In Windscheid, Bowes-Sperry, Mazei and Morner (2017), the experimental design used is
(N = 693), to examining the effects of the various identities that were considered previously of

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by the authors, - blind and the conscious identities, depending on the choice of the people and
their perspectives, concerns and intentions towards organizing these kind of identities and using
them. The style included is counterfactual thinking so that the factors and the information are
analyzed by countering with each other and then dealing with the outcome. Primary data analysis
has been done by interviewing the people regarding the factor of the workplace diversity and
also took their reviews into account.
Dobson, Hensley and Rastad (2018), the study of the impact and the role of the EU and
the US has been made, deeply categorizes the impact of the two terms and their importance in
dealing with gender diversity quota as well as the implementation of the emendation of the
government for it has been analyzed as well. The help of statistical data has been taken for
validating and the information for the emendation of the quota system and also to study the
probable outcomes of it. The study of the statistical data has helped to infer upon certain points
which has successfully assisted the authors for deciding whether the implementation of the quota
system will be satisfactory or not. Thus the use of the secondary data has been made for doing
research work on the paper. Also the impact of the third wave of feminism has been analyzed
and included in the paper.
Reflection:
Both the research works has been extensively studied and well researched, I have personally
gone through both the works and therefore I am able to infer upon the observations, and the
experimental quotients that he research work has served and looked into. The research papers has
highlighted the importance of the action of the government towards the implementation of
gender diversity, the probable outcomes are also discussed relying on the fact of failing and
successful implementation of the ideas. The research works deeply delve on the organizing and

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also improving the status of women. They both emphasize on the fact of growing influence of
women in the workplace. The emergence of the fact that the working ability of women are more
important and that there is efficient is successfully done in both the research works. This serving
as the similarity of the research plays a deep impact on the need of the employment of women.
Various research works have been done to analyze the current situation of the matter and
preparing guidelines in which the research will be working on. This has resulted in deriving the
general outcome for the position of women in workplace.
References:
Dobson, J., Hensley, D. and Rastad, M., 2018. Toward gender diversity on corporate boards:
Evaluating government quotas (EU) versus shareholder resolutions (US) from the perspective of
third wave feminism. Philosophy of Management, 17(3), pp.333-351.
Windscheid, L., Bowes-Sperry, L., Mazei, J. and Morner, M., 2017. The paradox of diversity
initiatives: When organizational needs differ from employee preferences. Journal of Business
Ethics, 145(1), pp.33-48.
Kamali, M.H., 2015. Women in the Workplace: Sharīʿah and Contemporary Perspectives. Islam
and Civilisational Renewal, 274(2625), pp.1-24.