| Abstract: |
The feminization of Boards has the potential to be a vector of change,
bringing "added value" to organisations through gender diversity, thus
creating greater efficiency. Promoting women to positions of power only makes
sense, however, if these women are allowed to bring, in terms of skills and
behavior, a difference to the table. This involves confronting the masculine
model, in order to BUILD a model of mixed leadership integrating the
"feminine" quotient (A.Arcier). A qualitative study on women and their
relation to power, undertaken in France and abroad (published in October
2012), allowed the formulation of some hypotheses in order to construct a
proposition of a mixed power model that would integrate both masculine and
feminine "polarities" within enterprises and organisations
(ValérieRocoplan).This article is the outcome of various influences: the data
of this study (by the same author with the support of the firm Boyden) which
was further enriched by the analysis of other publications on the subject, as
well as the experience acquired within the framework of the program Women Be
European Board Ready (created by ESSEC). The article deliberately focuses on
the issues surrounding gender and governance in order to address the smooth
and effective running of Boards. The study essentially aims to highlight the
fact that women wishing to obtain these mandates, or those who have reached
these posts, share a rigorous and idealised vision of the functioning of the
Boards and demand a model based on "sustainable governance" that is better
adapted to the challenges which Boards face in our corporate world of
upheaval. These women are potential "engines" for change. |