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This paper aims to examine the concept of participatory governance through membership in the context of the tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece, i.e. the social cooperative enterprise (Koinsep). As such, the paper aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion regarding the participation of stakeholders in the governance of social enterprises not only as a theoretical construct prescribed by law but also by examining its implementation in practice.

The development of two in-depth case studies demonstrate whether and how the application and implementation of legal requirements regarding governance and membership permit and encourage stakeholders to participate in the decision-making processes of social enterprises. The study accordingly showcases the influence exerted by the legal regime over the social enterprise.

The case studies demonstrate how participatory governance is not realised in a formal manner in the organisational set-up of two social enterprises. It thereby shows how stakeholders and employees participate informally in the decision-making processes of Greek social enterprises, although legislation is conducive to formal means of participation.

This study is part of a larger project involving a comparative research of tailor-made legal forms of social enterprises and corresponding organisations in three jurisdictions, i.e. Greece, Belgium, and the UK. In this study, the research was limited to the legal form of Koinsep.

This paper also contributes to the development of a better understanding of the Koinsep as a new tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece. It therefore, sheds light in its function and its participatory governance structure.

The study is an original attempt to theoretically and practically examine the subject of participatory governance in the Greek social enterprises context.

This paper aims to analyze the barriers discussed in the extant literature as to why women are underrepresented in the corporate top and explains how these barriers interrelate. An understanding of the interrelatedness of the barriers can help develop suitable and effective measures to improve women’s representation.

The systematic review method was applied. The search resulted in 51 relevant academic articles from multiple disciplines which were used for the analysis.

Barriers identified include gender stereotypes, bias in recruitment and promotion, devaluation of women, masculine and long-hours organizational culture, work-family issues and the lack of professional support. The interrelatedness of these barriers is analyzed by means of a conceptual framework.

The adopted method requires the use of search engines and search terms and consequently relevant articles may have been overlooked. The study is geographically demarcated to Europe and, hence is only applicable to developing suitable and effective measures in a European context. More research is needed into which measures are appropriate and effective to overcome the barriers identified.

The insights can be used by companies to foster gender equality and by companies and governments to develop appropriate and effective measures to overcome these barriers.

This review contributes to the literature by uncovering the interrelatedness of the barriers. Understanding the interrelatedness is crucial for developing appropriate measures to overcome the barriers and ultimately to achieve gender equality at the corporate top.

The aim of this article is twofold: (1) to identify gender equality organizational interventions implemented by a selected number of Dutch companies to increase the number of women at the corporate top and (2) to identify how these interventions overcome barriers to women's advancement and contribute to more women at the corporate top.

A comparative case study method was applied through conducting qualitative research. The research was conducted at four large Dutch companies.

The research identified 23 organizational interventions that were classified in four categories. The cross-case analysis focuses on specific themes, such as the type of interventions, the identified barriers, the successfulness of the interventions and factors contributing to increasing the number of women at the corporate top. The research shows that top-level commitment to this topic is important for the success of interventions and for increasing the number of women at the corporate top and throughout the rest of the organization. Some of the barriers could be overcome by the interventions identified.

This research provides companies with better insight into the quality and quantity of gender equality organizational interventions implemented by Dutch companies to increase the number of women at the corporate top. It can assist them in deciding which interventions could be implemented in order to achieve gender equality at their corporate top.

The research provides in-depth insight into the types and number of implemented gender equality organizational interventions for women at the corporate top and into the results and perceived effectiveness of such interventions.