Abstract: In response to the pressing global challenge of achieving gender equality, many organizations and multinational enterprises (MNEs) have adopted gender diversity management (GDM) initiatives —human resource practices aimed at promoting gender equity and equality in the workplace. While prior research highlights the importance of institutional context in shaping the implementation and outcomes of GDM, there is limited understanding of how to contextualize and implement these practices effectively across diverse national settings. This presentation will first briefly review existing research in three key areas: (1) the transfer of GDM practices across MNEs, (2) the gender composition of MNEs’ top management teams, and (3) comparative studies of GDM, and will underscore the limitations of universal, “one-size-fits-all” approaches to GDM. Emphasizing the need for context-sensitivity, the presenters suggest that more is to be done if we are to fully understand the complex interplay between organizational practices and local norms in shaping GDM implementation and outcomes. In that spirit, the presentation will then outline promising future research directions, including the need for a deeper understanding of MNEs’ motivations for engaging in GDM, the positioning of gender within broader diversity agendas, and the implications of growing anti-DEI sentiment.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Mila Lazarova is the William Saywell Professor of International Business at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. Her research interests include global careers, organizational career development and mobility practices in organizations, career impact of international assignments; and HR issues related to integration of skilled migrants. Mila has published in journals such as the Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Organizational Science, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Human Resource Management Journal. Mila is a consulting editor at Journal of World Business and sits on several other editorial boards.

Katharina Bader is chair in International HR Management at the School for Business and Society, University of York, United Kingdom. She is also the head of the people, work and employment group. Her research interests include gender equality at work, working parents and wider issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in organizations. Her work has been published in journals such as Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Work Employment and Society and The International Journal of Human Resource Management and she has received several international awards for her research. She serves on the Editorial Boards of The International Journal of Human Resource Management and Academy of Management Perspectives.

Eddy Ng is a professor of organizational behaviour and the Smith Professor in Equity and Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University. His research focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and human resources management. His work has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants. He has authored and edited eight books and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. According to Stanford/Elsevier, he is recognized among the top 2 percent of highly cited scientists. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal and co-editor of Personnel Review. He is a past chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (previously Gender and Diversity in Organizations) division of the Academy of Management.

Lena Knappert is professor and head of the Institute for Diversity and Gender in Organizations at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her research interests include (in)equalities, diversity, and inclusion at work from contextual, critical, multi-actor, and cross-level perspectives. Her work appears in high-impact journals such as Academy of Management Discoveries, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Work Employment and Society, and Applied Psychology, among others. She currently serves in the editorial board of Academy of Management Discoveries and as an associate editor for the German Journal of Human Resource Management.