Additions to Corporate Boards; the Effect of Gender

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS ECON1202/2291 QUANTITATIVE MEHODS A FINAL EXAMINATION SESSION 2 2008

This research is being submitted on June 14, 2010, for Mr. Bergeen’s Microeconomics course at Rasmen College by John Divler.

Although in 2012, only 18 women served as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Furthermore, in a recent report, women only held 16.6% of board seats in 2012 in the fortune 500 companies (Aguilar). Women are somehow being held back from achieving their higher potential, and is is not due to lack of education. The department of education found that “140 women will graduate with a college degree at some level this year for every 100 men”(Aguilar). Most people believe the reason is because of the phenomenon of the “glass ceiling”. Many large companies do not hire women for the upper level positions, because they have always hired men, and many companies may believe that they do not see women in that position. This is also influenced by the media as well, as “women hold only 3% of clout positions in telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising.”(Newsom 2011). With so few women leaders in the media industry, women are rarely portrayed in highly respected executives roles. This in turn communicates to young girls and the public in general that women are not supposed to hold these

Why are there not more women in the upper ranks of corporate America? Is it because women slow down or stop career plans to spend more time caring for family? Or possibly because they are just less ambitious than men and don’t have the confidence? Simple answer: No. Something else is occurring whilst on their way to the top. Women are not surrendering their vocations in huge numbers. Parenthood actually builds their craving for winning advancements; and women by large don 't lack of aspiration or certainty that they can use to go up against difficult tasks. Yet when asked whether they want a top role in their companies or industries, a majority of women say they would rather not grab the brass ring.

They said if the share of female bosses increased by only .24 percent, the gender gap would decrease by more than 40 percent. This is an interesting find as it shows that just a couple of changes could make a big move toward equality, yet we aren’t making those changes. The authors concluded the slow progression of women’s corporate jobs is due to the history of men dominating those

To emphasize the tremendous ability of women in managing, real examples should be taken into consideration. According to Harvard Business Review (2015), Debra A. Cafaro is a powerful female manager example. She is the chairman and CEO of Ventas Inc - a leading healthcare real estate investment trust. Ms. Cafaro has served as Chief Executive Officer since 1999 and as Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2003. Under Ms. Cafaro’s leadership, Ventas has market capitalization rose to $26 billion in 2015, from $200 million. The company’s compound annual total shareholder return (TSR) was 29 percent for the fifteen year period ended 12/31/14. In addition to, Ventas was ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of its “Most Admired” real estate companies

Race and crime are interwoven with how justice and criminology are handled. Police have a racial bias against blacks and incarcerate them in larger numbers than any other race. Statistically, blacks have a higher arrest and incarceration rate than other races do. Due to police being taught that racial profiling is a necessary part of the job, blacks have now become a prime target for many false arrests and often serve jail time for a crime they may not have committed. The black community often expresses their distaste with the criminal justice system, and how their community is handled, but encounter opposition from a group of people who believe nothing is wrong. With justice and bias, there are many improvements that need to be made regarding how criminals are arrested and charged, especially when race is a factor.

Katharine Graham was the “first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company” (Iqbal, 2015, para. 13). However, this only occurred after she served as the publisher for 9 years (Iqbal, 2015). It would seem that the only reason that she was actually given the title was because her husband Phillip, committed suicide in 1963 (Iqbal, 2015). Female leaders face a lot of challenges in the business world; from the unconscious biases to the cultural expectations of women (Elmer, 2015). According to Elmer (2015), women aspire to the C-level jobs, but overtime this drops by more than 60% due to the lack of support from supervisors and role models. Although women CEO’s are currently at their highest in history with only 23 female CEO’s in 2015; the women who actually

By direction of the board, a foundation’s top executive staff person (titled CEO for this discussion) manages all aspects of the organization. CEOs typically oversee the foundation’s money, time and human resources and act as a liaison between the board and staff. Rather than keeping the CEO in a strictly managerial position, some boards award them a role in governance as well, offering the CEO full membership—and in some cases, voting rights—on the board. CEOs who sit on the board hold a position of great privilege but also great responsibility. With an equal voice at the board table, CEOs can enjoy more stature and influence among board members. Yet, at times, they may feel conflicted between the two

Findings and Conclusion: This research shows that women are still unrepresented in top management globally. The difference in performance of the companies in the same country and same industry implies that diversity serves a competitive differentiator. Certain companies focus on gender diversity and others focus on ethnic and racial diversity but no company in the top quartile focus on both. Companies which have greater diversity are able to attract top talent, improve internal and external customer satisfaction, improve decision making and hence improve

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall” (Shakespeare A2.S1.Pg2). This quote is explaining how some people gain an advantage in life by doing things that are wrong, and others suffer disadvantages because they only do what is right. Chillingworth, who was a betrayed husband, may have wanted revenge against Dimmesdale and Hester, but in the end he never got his true love back. Dimmesdale was a Puritan minister that was devoted to God, but he eventually considered himself a hypocrite because of his sin. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and imagery to present how sin leads to tragedy and that redemption for sin comes through self-knowledge. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale both received the effects of sin and possibility of redemption from revenge, adultery, and the symbolism of Pearl.

In August 2012 a team of researchers at the Credit Suisse Research Institute issued a report in which they examined 2,360 companies globally from 2005 to 2011, looking for a relationship between gender diversity on corporate management boards and financial performance. Sure enough, the researchers found that companies with one or more women on the board delivered higher average returns on equity, lower gearing (that is, net debt to equity) and better average growth.

Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).

Department of Finance, School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China Graduate School of Commerce and Management, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, 186-8601 Tokyo, Japan c Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, 186-8601 Tokyo, Japan d School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China Received 17 April 2005; accepted 26 September 2005

In 2010, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was repealed for the U.S. military, which was a widely celebrated victory in the LGBT community. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (or DADT for short) stated that homosexual soldiers were not to disclose their sexuality while serving the military. However, this repeal never applied to transgender people. Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice deals with issue regarding equality in the military, but there is not a current federal statute the ensures protection of those who are transgender.