Capturing a gendered transformation in society through corporate disclosures

This thesis explores Corporate Social Responsibility disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment in a developing country context. The study identifies Saudi Arabia as a country undergoing a State-driven gendered transformation in its society, in which laws and regulations positively targeting females are embedded within its National plans and country visions. The investigation used Nvivo Pro 11 to follow voluntary corporate disclosures of eleven (11) national organisations for a period of ten years (2005-2015) to determine the extent of textual and visual disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment communicated to the public within that time frame. An index card was developed based on the literature and best practice in reporting on gender from international and local frameworks to analyse 140 corporate reports. Findings from the content analysis fed the exploration of the drivers behind this reporting practice. Twenty-nine (29) semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 participant groups (Companies, Governing bodies, Financial analysts and CSR consultants) in addition to one focus group with female job seekers to determine the factors that influence reporting on gender in the Saudi context. Three theoretical frameworks led the analysis; Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 2010), Institutional Theory(Meyer and Rowan, 1977) and Resource Dependency Theory (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). By adopting triangulation in both theory and methodology, findings indicate that workplace gender equality disclosures dominate within the reports, followed by disclosures empowering females within the community. Gender equality organisational practices are led by State legislation and National plans while reporting on gender is driven by institutional factors rooted in the culture and norms of the region.