| dc.description.abstract | Phenomenon of corporate glass
ceiling still exist in many companies across the
globe and especially evident in Asian region
including Sri Lanka. Comparative to other top
management positions, board are
predominated by men and recognized and
acknowledged as a masculine arena. (Konrad,
Kramer & Erkut, 2008). As a member of the
board, role of company secretary is drastically
changed overtime. Similarly, it has been claimed
that company secretary is the longest serving
member in a board comparative to directors.
Due to orthodox patriarchal mindset, this
critical and significant role in the modern
companies is still an under researched domain
(McNulty and Stewart, 2015; Hilb, 2011;
Cadbury, 2002; Roberts, 2003; Muller, Lipp &
Pluss, 2007, Erismann- Peyer, Steger &
Salzmann, 2008). However, with the recent
corporate and financial crisis, the role of
company secretary regained its prominence as
earlier. This study reflected on the research
problem of whether modern company
secretarial role is a gender stereotyped in Asian
region especially in Sri Lanka? This is a
qualitative exploratory and descriptive
research. Findings of the study revealed that
modern company secretaries plays an
important role as central corporate governance
professional in both private and public
companies. Also, company secretarial role was
transformed from simple administrative record
keeping to a top-notch corporate governance
and leadership role. Further, this study provide
evidence, how Sri Lankan company secretaries
utilized this gender stereotyped role to scatters
contemporary corporate glass ceiling and
utilized it as a strategy to diffuse gender
equality on contemporary patriarchal Sri
Lankan society. | en_US |
