Despite regulatory efforts to promote gender diversity on boards, women are still severely underrepresented in board leadership in the UK, beyond FTSE 100 companies. Evidence suggests that women, when poorly represented in the workplace, are more likely to suffer discrimination. In this study, we report the first-hand experiences of gender discrimination suffered by female directors and present the process of how they build resilience through developing coping strategies. Such resilience-building processes seem to vary with the length of board experience of female directors. At the outset of their board journey, they adopt avoidant coping strategies of denial and disengagement. However, with experience in boards, they gain the confidence to pursue the active coping strategy of seeking and extending support. This qualitative study is based on 42 elite interviews of board directors and is guided by the resilience theory, in the context of top FTSE boards. The article also discusses the contribution of the study to theory, praxis, and policy.

中文翻译：

---

女性董事对性别歧视的抵御力

尽管监管机构努力促进董事会的性别多元化，但除富时 100 强公司外，女性在英国董事会领导层中的代表性仍然严重不足。有证据表明，如果女性在工作场所的代表性不足，则更有可能遭受歧视。在这项研究中，我们报告了女性董事遭受性别歧视的第一手经验，并介绍了她们如何通过制定应对策略来建立复原力的过程。这种韧性建设过程似乎随着女性董事在董事会任职时间的长短而有所不同。在他们的董事会之旅开始时，他们采取了拒绝和脱离接触的回避应对策略。然而，凭借在董事会的经验，他们有信心采取积极的应对策略，寻求和提供支持。这项定性研究基于对 42 位精英董事的采访，并以富时顶级董事会为背景，以弹性理论为指导。文章还讨论了该研究对理论、实践和政策的贡献。