RQ1: What diversity management practices facilitate gender representation in the workplace? RQ2: Which challenges arise when implementing gender quotas into the work environment?  Purpose: The impact of this research is twofold: it will address a knowledge gap in the academic literature on gender challenges, gender quota application and follow-up in business, as well as contribute to research on practice-based diversity and quotaring. Additionally, this study will have an impact on how issues like this are handled in practice.  Method: Five semi-structured interviews with managers in various positions in a multinational organization, as well as three focus group discussions, were conducted as part of this qualitative study to allow interactions between theories and empirical findings. In addition to the interviews, the theoretical framework allowed for a thematic analysis. Conclusion: The empirical data gathered for this study has provided sufficient evidence to conclude that a firm's acceptance of diversity and diversity management policies and practices, such as gender quotas, is highly valued by stakeholders, but often difficult to admit. When it comes to incorporating efforts like inclusion and diversity into a firm’s plans, diversity has proven to be quite beneficial, however using gender quotas as part of diversity management techniques is frowned upon. We can also conclude that women still face significant challenges solely based on gender in the business world, such as salary differences, pregnancy, attitudes and males’ perceptions, to name a few. Thus, gender equality still has a long way to go.

This essay deals with the protagonists‟ challenges of the conceptions of gender in the novel Across the Nightingale Floor, by Australian author Gillian Rubinstein who uses the pseudonym Lian Hearn (2002). The protagonists are analyzed from a feminist and gender theoretical point of view, pinpointing the actions and thoughts that challenge the conceptions of gender in their society. Main focus is on Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede, who defy the conceptions of femininity and masculinity within their sex, and how the characters gender identities change from the beginning to the end of the novel, and what causes these changes.