Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.22598/iele.2025.12.1.7
GENDER BALANCE AMONG DIRECTORS IN THE AGE OF AI
Jelena Lepetić
orcid.org/0009-0005-6350-6206
; Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Gender balance in corporate boards has been a widely debated topic in recent years. The adoption of the EU Directive on Improving the Gender Balance among Directors of Listed Companies – Gender Balance Directive, 10 years after the publication of the Proposal for this Directive is a testament to how difficult it was to reach a compromise. This long-awaited legal instrument was adopted at the time when artificial intelligence has become a new hot topic in company law and corporate governance. However, an intersection between gender balance and AI regarding corporate boards, i.e. women on boards in the age of rapid development of AI was not discussed to that extent. At the beginning, the author explains the mechanisms for fostering gender balance in corporate boards under the Gender Balance Directive. Afterwards, the mechanisms outlined in Serbian Law on Gender Equality for improving representation of women in boards are described as well. To highlight the extent to which it is necessary to implement mechanisms for establishing gender balance and to identify the specific directorial positions involved, statistical data for EU countries and Serbia are also presented. In the following parts of the paper, the author analyses whether and how the development of AI will influence the gender balance in corporate boards. On the one hand, AI may be used when selecting women directors and thus be seen as useful mechanism for improving gender balance. Nevertheless, this is also associated with the risk of discrimination against women. On the other hand, its use may be an impediment for fostering gender equality in the setting where an algorithm may replace a director or even make all previous efforts for improving gender balance in corporate boards futile.
Keywords
gender balance; directors; corporate boards; AI; high-risk AI
Hrčak ID:
332623
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2025.
Visits: 285 *