Before and after: Effect of gender quota on icelandic landscape of the boards of directors

Women and men do not participate in the national or global economy to the same extent. One of the critical factors in gender equality is access to the boards of directors in both private and public companies, as this is where the highest levels of power are concentrated. Sometimes the result of this historical tendency to exclude women is accompanied by an allusion to “smoke-filled rooms,” where important decisions are made by powerful people. However, with a release of a law to establish gender quotas in Icelandic boards of directors, both the smoke and the men-only corporate boards vanished away in the largest corporations.