What is holding back women from reaching CEO positions in Iceland? : does it depend on company size?

Abstract

Iceland has been at the forefront of gender equality in the world for many years and even though it has been in many ways exemplary, the ratio of female CEOs remains tremendously low. If the ratio of female CEOs in Iceland is analyzed a pattern rises, the number of female CEOs decreases with the increased size of the company. Understanding why the ratio of women in the position of CEO is so low and what assembles the pattern remains a question.The study aimed to investigate what is holding back women from reaching CEO positions in Iceland and does it depend on company size, with insight from current female and male CEOs. It is important to get the perspectives from both female and male CEOs to get variable insights. To get to know the subject better, the researcher read articles related to the subject and examined what had been researched in this field. The researcher did preliminary research that aimed to confirm that women are applying for the role of a CEO and the main research was to get insight into this matter. The results from the preliminary research show that women do apply for the role of CEO, even though they are a minority of the applicants and men are the ones that claim the role. The findings from the qualitative part show that men are more likely to claim the role of a CEO, and that is due to stereotypes, gender roles, gender bias in assessments, ownership of companies, and many other aspects. Women feel like they need to excel their male colleagues to be noticed and promoted and they find it difficult to climb up the hierarchy ladder since the top management positions are male-dominated. Even though women have achieved to claim the high managerial roles, they are driven out of the labor market earlier than men due to age discrimination. It seems that women face discrimination in every aspect of the labor system.