The Illusion of Inclusion? : Tokenism and Women’s Influence on Corporate Boards in Sweden.

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores whether increased representation of women on Swedish professional boards has contributed to a more equitable distribution of power and influence. It examines how professional female directors perceive inclusion and tokenism, and the strategies they emphasize to promote meaningful gender diversity, through own employed actions, organizational change, or broader societal transformations. Using a qualitative, abductive approach with in-depth interviews, the study uncovered how informal recruitment practices act as gatekeeping mechanisms, suggesting external recruitment firms contribute with more competence‐ and merit-based selection. It also underscores greater accountability for nomination committees and ownership in composing gender-diverse boards. Board-level diversity should be accompanied by efforts to achieve gender balance in executive management, ensuring an equitable redistribution of power across corporate governance. This emerged as critical for strengthening women's presence in the leadership pipeline and sustaining future gender-diverse boards. The empirical evidence highlighted subtle forms of tokenism, such as social exclusion and heightened performance expectations, persists in boardrooms. In response, individual competence emerged as key for women to gain recognition and inclusion. Preparation, adaptive communication, and reliance on inclusive leadership from chairpersons were identified as individual strategies for navigating boardroom dynamics and fostering inclusion.