Increasing the Number of Women on Boards: The Role of Actors and Processes Cathrine Seierstad 1 • Gillian Warner-Søderholm 2 • Mariateresa Torchia 3 • Morten Huse 3 Received: 7 August 2014 / Accepted: 31 May 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 Abstract Understanding the spread of national public policies to increase the percentage of women on boards is often presented using different types of institutional theory logic. However, the importance of the political games influencing these decisions has not received the same attention. In this article, we look beyond the institutional setting by focusing on the role of actors. We explore pro- cesses that include who the critical actors that drive and determine these policies are, and what motivates them to push for change. We employ a processual design approach using a longitudinal country-comparative case study exploring the case of Norway, England, Germany and Italy. We map the political games, both inside and outside leg- islative areas, including the micro-politics among various actors and groups of actors in the selected countries. Data are collected through participation observations, interviews and text analyses. The study contributes by filling impor- tant gaps in the literature by embedding the discussion about women on boards in politicking and national public policies and by introducing dynamic perspectives. Finally, by using a processual design approach, we capture the reality of the women on board debates at different points of time and in different actor and motivational contexts. The study has consequences for how policy-makers and busi- nesses may follow up and act, based on the debates. Keywords Women on boards (WoB) Á National public policies Á Quotas Á Actors Introduction Understanding the spread of national public policies to increase the percentage of women on boards (WoB) is often presented using different types of institutional theory logic. However, the importance of the political games influencing these decisions has not received the same attention. In this article, we look beyond the institutional setting by focusing on the role of actors. Norway was the first country to introduce a gender- balance law with quota regulations for corporate boards. After the introduction of quotas in Norway, several other countries followed similar paths. A number of studies point to the importance of institutional factors in explaining both the spread of national public policy initiatives, including quotas (Terjesen et al. 2015) and the percentage of WoB (Terjesen and Singh 2008; Grosvold and Brammer 2011). While these studies demonstrate important contextual ele- ments, they do not fully capture cross-country differences and politicking among key actors. In response, we address the puzzles surrounding introductions of national public policy initiatives for WoB through an investigation of actors, the dynamic relationships and interactions between actors, and their motivations in Norway, England, Ger- many and Italy. These countries are chosen based on sev- eral factors: they are all European countries potentially & Cathrine Seierstad c.seierstad@sussex.ac.uk Gillian Warner-Søderholm gillian.warner.soderholm@bi.no Mariateresa Torchia Mariateresa.Torchia@uni-wh.de Morten Huse morten.huse@bi.no 1 University of Sussex, East Sussex, UK 2 BI, Oslo, Norway 3 University of Witten Herdecke, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 123 J Bus Ethics DOI 10.1007/s10551-015-2715-0