Gender Composition of Boards of Directors and Sensitivity to Gender Issues in Italian University Strategic Plans

In the recent Italian regulatory framework, planning is the main point in to the effective accomplishment of the mission of universities. Among the planning tools envisaged by the legislator there are the strategic plan, which outlines mission, strategic guidelines and objectives of the University, and the integrated plan, which includes shorter-term objectives and strategies. These documents, as provided for by the legislator and by university regulations, are prepared and approved by specific body. The objective of the paper is to verify if the board gender composition affects the sensitivity to gender issue in defining the University's strategies and therefore strategic plan. We measure the sensitivity to gender issue in defining university’ strategies through a synthetic indicator calculated on the basis of the content analysis conducted on the strategic plans of the University.