Quotas

There is now talk of expanding the quota to
include other types of companies.

For other countries, the tiny, rich nation of Norway has since come to represent a laboratory for
the advancement of women.

Stubholt believes a quota is necessary, because only by exceeding a critical mass of at least 30
percent women can a situation be established where "masculine behavior is no longer the only
thing acceptable," she says.

That, critics said, meant
that the gender quota was only creating a false sense of diversity.

The gender quota fell on fertile ground in Norway, where gender equality has topped the political
agenda for decades.

Those who failed to do so within this time frame were threatened with
sanctions, and in extreme cases, even the forced liquidation of the company -- the same
punishment for other grave violations of stock corporation law.

But in Germany, a rift between advocates and opponents of a
gender quota is splitting the government.

This
disparity, however, appears to be easing according to recent studies.