Go to chapter 20, page 588 and discuss the pros and cons of the Ethical Issue, at the top of the page.

Ethical Issue: Does corporate America need gender quotas for boards of directors? Driven by pressure from institutional investors - as well as changes in the society at large - the nation's 500 largest corporations increased the number of women on their boards of directors by 37 percent during the last half of the 2010s. At the same time, California became the first state to legally compel the presence of women on corporate boards. Under California law, every publicly traded company based in the state must have at least one female director or be fined $100,000. Companies with five board members must have at least two female directors, and those with six board members must have at least three female directors. Larger corporations face fines of $300,000 for every seat that should be filled by a woman but is not. Given that the average director salary in California is about $180,00, complying with this law will be a hardship for some smaller firms. Still, the legislator who sponsored the law lauded its twin goals of "advancing gender equality" and enhancing "the economic well-being of the state." Opponents of the law counter that it is "patronizing" to women and also violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by perpetuating gender-based discrimination. In addition, critics point out that a number of European countries have had gender quotas for corporate boards of directors in place for years, with no measurable impact on corporate financial performance or the expected "trickle-down" effect of increased hiring of female executives.