Gender diversity on Swedish companies’ board of directors : A study on gender diversity in 60 Swedish listed small, medium and large cap companies between 2009-2015

Abstract Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to examine the development of gender diversity on 20 small, 20 medium and 20 large cap Swedish listed companies board of directors between the years of 2009 to 2015. The attributes board size, gender, age and education will be examined to see if there is any gap between male and female board members, hindering gender balance and if gender quotas are needed. The purpose aims to see if gender quotas are needed in Sweden. Research Design: The thesis contains of a quantitative study consisting of collected secondary data. The secondary data is selected from the annual reports from 60 different companies, 20 companies from each small, medium and large cap. The variables which has been analysed in order to answer the purpose of the thesis is board size, gender, age and education. Findings: The findings of this thesis one can conclude that the presence of female members in the boardroom has increased over the past years. However, this increase in unstable and has not been reality for more than two years in a row. Regarding the age the findings shows that the average age tends to be lower for female members which can enhance the tendency of “the old boys club”. The findings also displays that the educational level is even regarding both females and males and that the female members possess a high level of knowledge. Contribution: The thesis shows that there is a possible need of securing the enhancement of gender balance since the development has been uncertain over the past years. The current proposal is gender quotas. However, to include gender quotas in statutory law is not the appropriate way to go since there is resistance from the opposition parties and parts of the business life. The thesis also displays that the argument of females not possessing the accurate educational level is not justified since the female members of the investigated companies possess the accurate educational level and it is the same level as the male members. Value: In order to ensure equal gender balance in the boardroom to be reality in the future the authors believe that actions need to be taken. However, the proposal of including gender quotas into statutory law has been neglected and it is negative to force an action from the companies it might be more suitable to benefit the companies, which have equal gender balance instead.