Effectiveness of gender equality initiatives in project-based organizations in Australia

Little is known about the impact of workplace gender equality initiatives in improving women’s representation. We assess their effectiveness on levels of women’s representation in Australian property and mining organizations. Derived from signaling theory, we propose and test a positive relationship between gender equality initiatives and women’s representation at management and non-management levels. Derived from contingency theory, we propose and test the moderating effect of women in top management teams on the abovementioned relationships. The hypotheses were tested using archival data from 358 organizations with a 2-year time lag. The findings partially support the main and moderating effect hypotheses. We discuss theoretical, research, and practical implications.