The long and tough way of female talents towards the top: state of art, influence on practice and major challenges of gender business studies

Integration of female talents in top positions is increasingly emerging as a key factor for business continuity. At the same time, there is a long way to go for integration to be significant as women’s presence in such positions is still scarce and slowly growing in all types of firms. This paper analyses female-specific contributions to governance, leadership and top management, it discusses the persisting barriers for these contributions to be fully recognized at cultural, organizational and individual level and it highlights how gender studies can move recognition forward by developing some open issues of special relevance