FACTBase Bulletin 58 - Gender in the Boardroom: Learnings from World Leader Norway

This Bulletin has been prepared by international expert, Professor Morten Huse, as a contribution to the Committee for Perth's ongoing gender equality advocacy as part of the Filling the Pool project. It explores Norway's experience of implementing a quota to increase the number of women on boards.

Key Findings

• Voluntary actions to get more women on boards did not work in Norway. A legal quota for gender balance was therefore implemented. Many countries have been influenced by the snowball that started rolling in Norway.
• Challenges, characteristics, and contributions of the women becoming board members vary. They are influenced both by the national context and the national public policy instruments being applied. Efforts for getting women on boards must be adapted to national discourses and contextual factors.
• Actual board behaviour influences the business case for women on boards. It is necessary to move beyond superficial accounts and take better account of ‘who the women are’.
• Quotas are not enough for achieving gender equity, and societal sustainability and well-being. Quotas must be supplemented by other initiatives.