(In)Equality and commitments: Women on cooperatives’ boards of directors in Belgium

This paper explores women's commitment as members of cooperative boards and the gender-based tensions they experience, based on the analysis of interviews with women directors in Belgium. While the under-representation of women in decision-making bodies of social economy enterprises has been noted by some authors, women’s involvement in cooperative boards remains rather unexplored. This is surprising since cooperatives, as social economy enterprises, claim to pursue (gender) equality and democratic governance. Our sample mainly includes male-dominated sectors with boards showing varied female representation. The results indicate that there is apparent equality on the boards, although little has been done to address this issue. However, under-representation of women and their absence from the presidency is a regular pattern. The study also reveals tensions between women's commitment to the board and family responsibilities. These systemic tensions reflect that cooperatives are products of patriarchal ontology and remain part of the system – provided their embeddedness in the capitalist economy. This research contributes to a better understanding of the different profiles of women who sit on cooperative boards and to explaining the tensions and inequalities they encounter. Additionally, it helps to identify factors that promote their commitment and thus combat their under-representation on boards.