The dark and bright sides of the stock market’s impact on non-executive women in publicly traded companies

Companies listed on the stock market can raise significant capital to compete globally. But they often face pressure to balance profit expectations with equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts, particularly to increase women’s representation in non-executive, or “rank-and-file,” roles. Despite progress, the corporate culture remains largely male-dominated. High pressure, long hours, and limited flexibility disproportionately affect women, especially those balancing childcare and family responsibilities. These challenges raise important questions about the financial market’s role in shaping corporate priorities related to gender-inclusive workplaces.

Professor Rengong (Alex) Zhang received a SMRG Research Development Grant, with Professor Tiemei (Sarah) Li as a co-applicant, to explore how the stock market impacts non-executive female employees.

Gender diversity under market pressure

Zhang was inspired by a friend who left her job during the pandemic to care for her children. This prompted him to reflect on how market pressures affect women at work. Zhang and his team are using large-scale data on U.S. employees to conduct two pilot studies. The first investigates the “dark side” of the stock market. It’s looking to discover how immediate investor demands, like short-selling, might discourage public companies from offering gender-inclusive benefits like maternity leave, child care, and flexible work arrangements. The second study looks at the “bright side” of being publicly traded. It aims to determine whether increased scrutiny from investors and the public motivates companies to improve gender-inclusive practices and policies so that the company can uphold a positive corporate image and show accountability. These studies are being conducted to inform a future Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant application.

From research to real-world impact

Zhang hopes that the findings from this research will help the public, businesses, and policymakers better understand how financial market forces influence not just profits but also corporate commitments to build more gender-inclusive workplaces. On a broader level, the insights from this work are poised to drive more responsible and forward-looking corporate strategies. This is especially relevant at a time when businesses are expected to do more on EDI to boost their social impact in Canada and around the world.