Gender outlook on top management teams: the Israeli case of decision-making dynamics at upper echelons in organisations

Abstract

The current research attempts to discern the hidden aspects of gender structuring in top management teams (TMTs), their antecedents and effects on teams’ and organisations’ performance. Integrating two bodies of knowledge (diversity in teams’ decision-making and women in management), the study examined: 1) women’s formative experiences in TMTs; 2) their voices in decision-making and impact on organisational policy and practice at the strategic level; 3) the participants’ awareness of gender influence on relationships in TMTs, elucidating the salience of social categorisation and mechanisms of potential exclusion. The findings show overt and hidden aspects of women’s patterns of involvement in TMTs. The explicit level reveals significant underrepresentation of women in the upper-echelon teams. The implicit nature of women’s involvement points at their communal functions such as team maintenance, organising and actually doing the work and frequent subtle silencing of their voices. Future research directions and policy implications are discussed.