{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T22:22:17Z","timestamp":1767651737247,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,30]],"date-time":"2022-09-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1664496000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FCT","award":["(PTDC\/SOC-ASO\/29895\/2017)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(PTDC\/SOC-ASO\/29895\/2017)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Social Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper seeks to analyse the potential for change in the gender quota law on corporate boards in Portugal. This is achieved by incorporating concepts and insights drawn from political science and the study of quotas in politics and adjusting these to the boardroom context. It adds to the literature on women on boards by shedding light on the importance of looking at descriptive representation, substantive representation, substantive equality and transformative institutional change, in order to understand a quota law\u2019s potential for eliciting gender balance in the boardroom, as well as greater gender equality in directorship positions, in board dynamics and at the workplace level. This study uses multi-strategy research methods. Evidence provided by the quantitative analysis of survey data, combined with the qualitative analysis of interviews undertaken with female and male board members and the contents of Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs), shows that there have been some changes in terms of descriptive representation, but fewer in relation to substantive equality, as men are still largely over-represented in positions associated with effective power and influence over decision-making. Moreover, although the promotion of gender equality at the workplace is valued by both groups, and particularly so by women, weaknesses have been found in the materialisation of such a commitment (substantive representation) through the adoption of GEAPs designed to tackle gendered patterns at the workplace (transformative institutional change).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/socsci11100449","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,10]],"date-time":"2022-10-10T05:12:21Z","timestamp":1665378741000},"page":"449","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Gender-Balanced Seats, Equal Power and Greater Gender Equality? Zooming into the Boardroom of Companies Bound by the Portuguese Gender Quota Law"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7944-5007","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara Falc\u00e3o","family":"Casaca","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre in Economic and Organisational Sociology\/CSG\u2013Research in Social Sciences and Management, Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG), SOCIUS, Universidade de Lisboa, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7116-7252","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana Ramalho","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre in Economic and Organisational Sociology\/CSG\u2013Research in Social Sciences and Management, Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG), SOCIUS, Universidade de Lisboa, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Guedes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Advanced Research in Management\/CSG\u2013Research in Social Sciences and Management, Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG), ADVANCE, Universidade de Lisboa, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1283-9378","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cathrine","family":"Seierstad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Department of Business, History and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3184 Borre, Norway"},{"name":"School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing, Kristiania College, 0107 Oslo, Norway"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1177\/089124390004002002","article-title":"Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations","volume":"4","author":"Acker","year":"1990","journal-title":"Gender & Society"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"441","DOI":"10.1177\/0891243206289499","article-title":"Inequality regimes: Gender, class, and race in organizations","volume":"20","author":"Acker","year":"2006","journal-title":"Gender & Society"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1093\/qje\/qjr049","article-title":"The changing of the boards: The impact on firm valuation of mandated female board representation","volume":"127","author":"Ahern","year":"2012","journal-title":"The Quarterly Journal of Economics"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"612","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-0432.2010.00520.x","article-title":"From \u201cglass ceilings\u201d to \u201cfirewalls\u201d\u2014Different metaphors for describing discrimination","volume":"17","author":"Bendl","year":"2010","journal-title":"Gender, Work and Organization"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"191","article-title":"Breaking the glass ceiling? 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