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An exploratory study of the experiences of women directors of U.S. public corporation boards of directors

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TitleInfo
Title
An exploratory study of the experiences of women directors of U.S. public corporation boards of directors
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Gross
NamePart (type = given)
Mary Elizabeth
NamePart (type = date)
1960-
DisplayForm
Mary Elizabeth Gross
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
author
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Cherniss
NamePart (type = given)
Cary
DisplayForm
Cary Cherniss
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
chair
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Ballet
NamePart (type = given)
Michele
DisplayForm
Michele Ballet
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
school
TypeOfResource
Text
Genre (authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated (qualifier = exact)
2015
DateOther (qualifier = exact); (type = degree)
2015-01
Place
PlaceTerm (type = code)
xx
CopyrightDate (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact)
2015
Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO639-2b); (type = code)
eng
Abstract (type = abstract)
This dissertation was an exploratory study of the experiences of women directors of U.S. public corporations. The purpose of this study was to advance the understanding of women’s experiences as U.S. public company board directors in the hope that an increased level of understanding will also lead to increased representation of women in corporate director roles. This research used the theoretical frameworks of embedded intergroup relations (Alderfer, 1987) and tokenism (Kanter, 1977) as a basis for analysis and was conducted as a qualitative study utilizing McCracken’s (1988) qualitative research methods and a semi-structured interview protocol (Whyte, 1984). In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 participants; seven of whom were token females on the corporate boards on which they serve, four who were non-tokens, and one participant who was “mixed” (token on one corporate board and non-token on another). The analysis of the interview data yielded overall participant themes in three areas: Influences of one’s professional life on being a corporate board director, quality of experience in joining a U.S. public company board, and nature of experience participating on a U.S. public company board. In comparing responses of the token and non-token participant groups, one notable difference emerged – the perception by tokens that important conversations take place outside the boardroom. A surprising finding, given the theoretical frameworks, was the emergence of a meta-theme of the women corporate directors feeling confident in their capabilities and comfortable in their board director roles, regardless of whether they were tokens. Several explanations are offered for why the results of this study do not align with the theoretical expectations of embedded intergroup relations and tokenism. These include a potential lack of trust between the participants and the researcher (leading to hesitancy by participants to fully disclose negative experiences), the salience of other group memberships in the boardroom, and the overall environment (supra system) within which corporate boards operate, among others. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are also discussed. The key themes from this study can be helpful to U.S. public companies seeking women directors and to the women who aspire to those roles.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Organizational Psychology
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Women executives
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Boards of directors
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Discrimination in employment
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_6057
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (xi, 90 p.)
Note (type = degree)
Psy.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Mary Elizabeth Gross
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10001800001
Location
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T38P6268
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Gross
GivenName
Mary
MiddleName
Elizabeth
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2014-12-12 16:06:50
AssociatedEntity
Name
Mary Gross
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical

RULTechMD (ID = TECHNICAL1)
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ETD
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windows xp
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