Resumo

This research analyzes how Brazilian credit unions are addressing gender and ethnic inequalities in leadership roles, with a particular focus on the strategies being implemented by these institutions to promote the representation of women and black individuals in leadership positions. The problem arises from the fact that these groups are significantly underrepresented in leadership positions in Brazil, with only 15.5% of board seats and 20.2% of CEO positions held by women and low representation of black individuals, as highlighted in the existing literature.

Our research aims to identify strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion within these organizations.

The configuration of gender as a social paradigm exerts considerable influence on the constitution of personal identities and behavior. the topics of gender and racial equity have not been the subject of academic research into Brazilian cooperatives. The invisibility of the agendas on SDGs 5 and 10 helps us understand that even though they have potential and are conducive, gender and racial equality still need to advance in organizational structures and in research on the subject.

The study draws on theoretical frameworks from governance in cooperatives, gender studies, and organizational behavior. Methodologically, We use content analysis and natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze data collected from 101 credit unions. This dataset includes documents such as meeting minutes, annual reports and codes of ethics obtained through web scraping in official websites. Through NLP, we provide evidence on the implementation of diversity and inclusion strategies within Brazilian credit unions.

The results of the study offer an overview of affirmative action policies, leadership training programmes, and efforts to cultivate an inclusive organizational culture in promoting diversity and inclusion. In addition, we identify differences between cooperatives and regions and offer recommendations for future research efforts to promote more equitable representation in leadership positions.

When comparing the documents and the co-operatives involved, relevant information arises. The region analysis allowed a closer look at the trends, with southern Brazil emerging as the region with the highest number of documents and topics on inclusion in leadership positions. This concentration can be attributed to historical reasons and the geographical distribution of co-operatives in the region. In addition, the presence of the headquarters of the main Sicredi co-operatives in the south of the country may influence this trend.

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