Miryam Martínez Martínez

Purpose: This study examines gender inequality in corporate leadership as a strategic challenge and introduces the Glass Ceiling Indicator (GCI), a novel quantitative measure to assess disparities in executive roles within the US financial sector, linking diversity to performance and governance. Design/methodology/approach: An unbalanced panel data model is applied to the S&P 500 financial institutions (2020–2024). The GCI compares the proportion of women in executive and senior management roles to the overall proportion of female employees. Gender-related and financial variables are included, and the model is estimated using feasible generalized least squares (FGLS). Findings: Female CEO duality, greater hiring of women, and a narrower gender pay gap are linked to weaker glass ceiling effects, while firm size and return on assets also foster gender equality in leadership. Conversely, higher entry-level female representation and older CEO age correlate with stronger glass ceiling dynamics, underscoring the influence of strategic decisions and organizational structures on leadership diversity. Practical implications: Findings support inclusive recruitment, pay equity, and leadership structures as strategic levers to reduce gender barriers and enhance performance. Social implications: By making invisible barriers measurable, the study contributes to advancing gender equity and fostering inclusive corporate cultures. Originality/value: This research proposes the first empirically validated GCI applicable across firms and sectors. It offers a strategic framework for quantifying gender inequality and identifying organizational drivers of inclusive leadership.

Companies are vital agents in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. One key role that businesses can play in achieving the 5th Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality is implementing training programs for their women executives so they can reach top corporate leadership positions. In this paper, we test the effectiveness of an Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) program for women executives. By interviewing 32 participants from this ALD program and building on authentic leadership theory, we find that this program lifts women participants’ self-efficacy perception, as well as their self-resolution to take control of their careers. The driver for both results is a reflective thinking process elicited during the program that leads women to abandon the stereotype of a low status role and lack of self-direction over time. Through the relational authenticity developed during the program, women participants develop leadership styles that are more congenial with their gender group, yet highly accepted by the in-group leader members, which enhances their social capital. After the program, the women participants flourished as authentic leaders, were able to activate and foster their self-esteem and social capital, and enhanced their agency in career advancement, increasing their likelihood of breaking the glass ceiling.

This study sheds light on the underrepresentation of women as school principals by analysing which model (organisational or individual) is most identified with the gender differences in the quality of management found in favour of women principals. To do so, this study presents a model for the appointment of school heads in a two-sided market: demand and supply. On the demand side (organisational model), the presence of double standards, with respect to the promotion of women, would imply that higher bars are set for the evaluation of women. Alternatively, on the supply side (individual model), a potential lower self-efficacy perception among women could lead them to self-exclude from managerial positions. In both cases, the findings reveal only highly-skilled females as principals and a gender gap in principal positions. By using the World Management Survey (WMS), data indicate that female principals are associated with higher management quality, which confirms the presence of barriers to female promotion. Exploration of the market side responsible for these barriers found that only the demand side is significant, which signals the double-standard argument. This supports the argument that changes in the principal selection process should be implemented for the maximisation of the available pool of talent.

The purpose of this investigation is to know which are the factors that define the different Websites belonging to those supermarkets that sell its products through the Internet in Spain. For it there is realized an analysis of content, in which there are examined both the parameters that help to the buy of products of nourishment in the Net, and the formal aspects that characterize the trade in each of them.