Technological innovation versus Gender Equality Perspectives in the Dairy Sector

Abstract

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the leadership of agricultural organizations. Simultaneously, increasing environmental pressures and global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) create new opportunities to restructure agribusiness operations and promote women’s leadership. This study analyzes data from over five hundred dairy enterprises in the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, sourced through ORBIS) to identify management features that foster female leadership within this European context. Principal Component Analysis revealed that a higher number of female directors and shareholders is associated with enhanced women’s leadership. These features are most common in medium-sized enterprises. In contrast to these findings, current EU initiatives promoting gender equality in European agriculture target start-ups and small businesses. However, statistical analysis indicates that leadership in small enterprises is less strongly influenced by gender dynamics. Meanwhile, emerging innovations in dairy production could further strengthen larger companies, potentially diminishing the role of women-led smaller enterprises. To counterbalance this shift, future policies should actively promote gender diversity in corporate boards to ensure equitable leadership opportunities across all business sizes while simultaneously strengthening support for small businesses, regardless of gender.