After decades of admirable, if slow, progress toward gender balance in its boardrooms, Norway has taken a giant leap. Last month, the pioneering Nordic state mandated that 40% of seats on the boards of all large and medium-sized companies should go to women within five years. This makes Norway the first country in the world to take such a monumental measure and it means that by next year, 8,000 companies should have hit the target quota, expanding to around 20,000 firms with more than 30 staff by 2028.