Female participation and the principles of cooperative governance: a systematic review

Abstract

This study investigated how academic articles address female participation in cooperativism from the perspective of cooperative governance principles. The bibliographic research was conducted through a systematic literature review using the PRISMA protocol. As a research source, Google Scholar was adopted, applying the filter “in the title of the article”. The keywords used were: women in cooperativism, women and cooperativism, gender and cooperativism, and cooperative women. Initially, 60 publications were identified, from which, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles resulted. These works address women’s involvement in cooperatives, considering the application or absence of the principles of Self-Management, Sense of Justice, Transparency, Education, and Sustainability. The findings indicate that, although initiatives aimed at promoting female inclusion do exist, they rarely articulate governance principles strategically and explicitly. The integrated application of these principles can strengthen gender equity and enhance women’s participation, especially in leadership positions, which remain limited due to structural barriers. The study concludes that greater theoretical and practical integration between cooperative governance and inclusion strategies is needed, as well as more comprehensive data on women’s participation in Brazilian cooperatives.