Interviews of Business Managers and Executive Search Professionals 2014-2015

The study investigated the recruitment of top management in listed and state-owned companies in Finland, particularly from the viewpoint of gender equality. The data consist of 19 interview transcripts. The interviewees included executive search professionals working in recruitment companies as well as high management of companies, for instance, members of the Board of Directors or human resources managers. One expert on state ownership steering was also interviewed. Data collection was part of the Gender Equality in Top Management - Changing Practices in Economic Decision-Making programme (TASURI) of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, connected to the Finnish Government's Action Plan for Gender Equality 2012-2015. High management interviewees were asked who in the company participated in the choice of high executives and board of directors members, how competence criteria were drawn, whether the company had processes for internal recruitment such as talent management, whether gender equality was taken into account in recruitment, and what were good and bad recruitment practices for top management. Executive search professionals, that is, recruitment consultants, were asked about recruiting processes, practices and channels, who participated in the choice, how competence criteria were drawn, preferences set by companies for candidate gender, obstacles or glass ceilings for top management posts, own possibilities to promote gender equality, and good and bad recruitment practices. Background information included the interviewee's gender and role in the company. The dataset is only available in Finnish.