COMMUNICATING THE BALANCING OF THE SCALES FOR GENDER EQUITY IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS: A MULTI-COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE.

This paper examines the relevance of gender equity to; faculty compensation, career advancement, and access to leadership roles in selected business schools in Finland, Jamaica, and the United States. These three countries reflect distinct cultural, political, economic, and societal structures and views regarding gender equity. Anchored by feminist, human capital, and socialization theories, we present the perspectives of both male and female business school faculty through cultural, economic, and societal constructs. A total of 410 business faculty members across 30 colleges in Finland, Jamaica, and the United States completed the modified Athena SWAN Gender Equity Survey. From this research, a conceptual framework was developed to help higher education administrators and faculty members contextualize the often-dissimilar experiences of business school faculty from a multi-cultural perspective. The findings confirm that female faculty in business colleges continue to lag in perceived and actual compensation and access to opportunities to succeed in business schools compared to males. Additionally, the findings support the further examination of the dichotomous relationship between perceived and actual gender inequities encountered by female faculty in business schools. These inequitable treatments continue to reflect, even with positive societal shifts, a distinctly patriarchal leadership, career advancement, and compensation system in business schools, often regardless of cultural norms and mores. Our findings add to the organizational and gender studies literature by proposing a balancing of the scales for gender equity in business schools from a multi-country perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]