Lack of gender diversity in business leadership roles : the discourse on caring and parenthood in Iceland and Malta

Abstract

Although women’s representation in business leadership has increased in recent years, underrepresentation remains a persistent challenge across countries. This study investigates the limited advancement of women into senior management roles in Iceland and Malta, two European island states with markedly different welfare and gender equality policies. We ask why Iceland’s progressive defamilisation policies have not produced greater gains in women’s leadership compared to Malta’s more traditional family role orientation. Drawing on theories of love and care, gendered organisations, and the ‘ideal worker,’ we analyse the discourse of 19 female CEOs regarding care, parenthood, and gender (in)equality. Our findings show that policy contexts shape how CEOs negotiate work and family roles: Icelandic policies encourage paternal involvement, while Maltese policies have historically reinforced maternal responsibility. Yet in both countries, mothers continue to shoulder the majority of caregiving duties. Maltese CEOs openly acknowledged this imbalance, whereas Icelandic CEOs often struggled to confront it. We argue that these persistent gendered expectations within families contribute to the similar lack of gender diversity in leadership across both contexts, despite their contrasting policy regimes and the ranking on the Gender Equality Index.