Breaking Through Only to Break up: A Cross-Country Analysis of the Speed of Advancement and Exit of Female Executives

Abstract

We examine the speed of advancements and exits of female executive directors vis-à-vis comparable men. In line with recent research, we suggest that women are likely to experience an apparent gender-based advantage in the form of lower age at the time of their first-ever executive director appointment. However, we argue that this advantage may be transitory. Appointed women also experience faster exits from these positions, with age partially mediating the differential speed of exits between male and female executive directors. We also contend that these effects are contingent on countries' local gender norms (especially women's economic participation) such that lower gender parity leads to even lower ages at appointments and faster exits for female executive directors. Results based on 15,202 unique rookie executive directors from 33 countries between 2002 and 2015 largely support these predictions.