Gender, Governance and Corporate Misconduct in Europe

This project idea builds on WOMCOR (Women and Corporate Misconduct), an ongoing multi-method research programme examining how gender shapes ethical agency, elite power dynamics and accountability in European corporate governance. The project investigates how women’s presence in top leadership affects misconduct risk, integrity practices and public trust, and how gendered norms shape ethical decision-making under pressure.

The cooperation project will integrate qualitative interviews, behavioural experiments and large-scale EU data on boards, political connections and public procurement to analyse:
(i) how women and men experience moral conflict and ethical responsibility in leadership roles;
(ii) how gendered elite networks influence firms’ exposure to misconduct and corruption-related risks;
(iii) whether female leaders face asymmetric penalties after corporate scandals.

The project aligns with Cluster 2 priorities on democracy, governance, gender equality and societal trust by generating evidence to support fairer governance systems, integrity-based leadership and inclusive accountability mechanisms. It aims to contribute to EU policy debates on board diversity, transparency, anti-corruption and gender-sensitive governance reforms.

We seek interdisciplinary partners in political science, sociology, law, economics and digital governance, as well as public authorities and civil-society actors working on integrity, procurement transparency and gender equality. The project is suitable for Horizon Europe Cluster 2 calls addressing governance, democracy, inclusion, ethics and institutional resilience.