Ruth Sealy

With global academic expertise on women on corporate boards, Ruth’s research areas include women in leadership; board composition; role models; and various aspects of corporate governance. Her current work focuses on the responsiblization of diversifying boards and leadership teams and the incorporation of diversity in Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) measures.

In the past, Ruth was the lead researcher of the annual UK Female FTSE Report, monitoring women on listed boards and executive committees, from 2007-2016, including co-creating the “100 Women to Watch” list at Cranfield in 2009. She has co-authored similar reports in Hong Kong and India and presented report findings to academic and practitioner audiences, globally. Working closely with the Government Equalities Office and Business Innovation & Skills department, Ruth and her team provided the data for the Lord Davies Review into women on boards 2010-2015. Ruth was a member of the NHS Advisory Board, which was set an ambitious target of “50:50 by 2020” to help diversify all NHS hospital boards. She was also an invited member of the British Psychological Society Division of Occupational Psychology Board Effectiveness Group.

Prior to becoming an academic, Ruth was the Managing Director of a specialist holiday company, which she sold to a larger tour operator. She then worked for a number of years as a management psychology consultant, before starting a PhD at Cranfield School of Management in 2004, where she later became Deputy Director of the International Centre for Women Leaders. In 2013, Ruth moved City University of London to be Programme Director for MSc Organisational Psychology, and in 2016, joined University of Exeter Business School.

Nationality:

• British

Qualifications

• BSc.,
• MSc.,
• PhD, Academic FCIPD

Research clusters

• Business, Institutions and Policy

Research interests

• Women in leadership
• Board demographics, dynamics and governance
• Role models
• Meritocracy & legitimacy

Awards and Honours

• Terjesen & Sealy (2015) “Questioning Quotas”, part of symposium Winner of Best International Symposium, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada.
• Atewologun, D. & Sealy, R. (2011) “Advancing racio-ethnic and diversity theorising through intersectional identity work”, Best International Paper, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
• Sealy, R. (2009) “How senior women experience gender-imbalanced work environments”, Best Paper British Academy of Management Conference, Brighton, UK.
• Sealy, R. & Singh, V. (2006) “Role models, work identity and senior women’s career progression: Why are role models important?”, Nominated for Best Paper Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.