The influence of social policy practices and gender egalitarianism on strategic integration of female HR directors

Abstract

The integration of the HR director into the strategic planning process is important if the HR function is to play a strategic role. A considerable number of women hold HR director positions with varying strategic integration across countries. This article deals with the impact of societal factors on the strategic integration of female HR directors. It analyses the consequences of social policy practices facilitating women's participation in work for the strategic integration of female HR directors and additional effects resulting from the interplay between these practices and gender-egalitarian attitudes at the societal level. A study of 984 companies with female HR directors in 16 countries shows that while enabling social policy practices are positively associated with strategic integration of female HR directors, related gender-egalitarian attitudes do not have a supporting effect.

Keywords:

• gender
• gender egalitarianism
• human resource management
• social policy
• strategic integration
• women

Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers and the editors of this special issue for their valuable comments and suggestions. The order of authors is alphabetical; input was equal.