Gender Diversity on U.S. Corporate Boards

Despite rhetoric supporting the advancement of women on corporate boards, meager evidence supports significant progress over the past decade in the United States. The authors examine archival board data (for more than 3,000 U.S. publicly traded firms) from 2002 to 2011 and find that a female is most likely to be appointed to a corporate board when a woman has just exited the position. A similar propensity occurs to reappoint a male when a man leaves, although the effect is smaller than for women. The authors argue that this “gender-matching heuristic” can impede progress in attaining gender diversity, regardless of intention, because it emphasizes the replacement of existing women rather than changing board composition. The authors replicate this effect in follow-up laboratory studies and show that “what works” to increase the representation of women on boards, irrespective of gender matching, is to increase the number of women in the candidate pool.

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Board Diversity in Terms of Gender: a Recommendation for Mauritius

African Journal of Legal Studies ◽

10.1163/17087384-12340036 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (2-3) ◽

pp. 282-298

Author(s):

Ambareen Beebeejaun

Keyword(s):

Gender Diversity ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Female Representation ◽

Board Diversity ◽

Representation Of Women ◽

Legal Provisions ◽

Global Trend ◽

Women On Corporate Boards ◽

Underrepresentation Of Women ◽

The Uk

AbstractThe increased presence of women on the boards of corporations is an international trend worth following by all countries. There are many good reasons for increasing gender diversity on boards have been evidenced by various studies such as better decisions, performance, and representation of the consumer base. However, the country of Mauritius has been lagging behind in terms of legislative initiatives to promote female representation on corporate boards. A study conducted by the Hay Group in association with the Mauritius Institute of Directors in 2015 supports this fact.The study seeks to identify the relative benefits behind the global trend of achieving gender diversity on corporate boards and on the factors that impact the representation of women on such boards. Some various kinds of regimes and initiatives that have been developed in some countries mainly Norway and the UK will be analysed to deal with the issue of underrepresentation of women on corporate boards. The purpose behind this research is to provide effective recommendations for Mauritius to achieve a greater level of gender diversity on corporate boards.The methodologies for the research are, in essence, comprised of the black letter approach which analyses the legal provisions relating to directors in Mauritius, Norway, and the UK. Journals, books, and reports amongst others will be also examined.The paper aims at responding to the research objectives set out above. In particular, a soft-law approach in terms of voluntary target and non-financial disclosure in terms of gender diversity status is suggested as a first step to resolve low representation of women on corporate boards in Mauritius.

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Gender-diverse boards get better performance on mergers and acquisitions

Corporate Ownership and Control ◽

10.22495/cocv17i4siart1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (4, Special Issue) ◽

pp. 222-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nivo Ravaonorohanta

Keyword(s):

Gender Diversity ◽

Value Added ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Representation Of Women ◽

Female Directors ◽

Gender Diverse ◽

Women On Boards ◽

And Gender ◽

Board Gender Diversity ◽

Executive Teams

In recent years, the composition of boards, particularly the appointment of female directors to the boardroom has attracted significant political and social debate. Despite several studies that have examined links between the representation of women on boards and the corporate performance, research on the board gender diversity in merger contexts is limited. We assess whether the presence of women on corporate boards affects merger and acquisition (M&A) performance. Using acquisition bids by public Canadian companies during 2012-2017, we find that an increasing number of female directors in acquiring companies is associated with an enhanced merger performance and a reduced bid premium. After controlling for gender diversity on executive teams, the value added by having women on boards is particularly noticeable when acquiring firms have few women in the executive teams, and where overconfidence is prevalent. Thus, there is a substitutive relation between gender diversity on the board and gender diversity on the executive team.

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Boards of directors in Russian publicly traded companies: the gender aspect

Voprosy Ekonomiki ◽

10.32609/0042-8736-2018-2-142-155 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 142-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T. A. Garanina ◽

A. A. Muravyev

Keyword(s):

Boards Of Directors ◽

Company Performance ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Publicly Traded ◽

Publicly Traded Companies ◽

Representation Of Women ◽

Female Directors ◽

Female Director ◽

Gender Aspect ◽

Longitudinal Dataset

This article studies the gender composition of corporate boards of Russian companies, including its relation to company performance. The analysis is based on a unique longitudinal dataset of virtually all Russian companies whose shares were traded on the stock market in 1998-2014. It shows a relatively small representation of women, just 12% of all the seats, while about 40% of the companies did not have any female director. At the same time, both the share of companies that appoint female directors and the share of female directors on boards show a clear upward trend. The econometric analysis suggests a positive link between the presence of female directors on boards and company performance, especially when firms appoint several, rather than one, female directors.

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Women on Boards and Firm Performance: A Microeconometric Search for a Connection

Journal of Risk and Financial Management ◽

10.3390/jrfm13090218 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 218

Author(s):

Marek Gruszczyński

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Annual Reports ◽

Company Performance ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Econometric Evidence ◽

Women On Boards ◽

Modern Business ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Female Presence

This paper discusses questions of the gender diversity of corporate boards vis-à-vis firm performance. Typically, researchers have asked if a female presence is associated with improved performance and more transparent governance. The paper’s first part reports on several econometric attempts in the quest to prove the existence of such an association. The primary outcome is that the results vary over geographical, cultural, and time settings. The study presented in the second part examines European firms’ annual reports from 2015. Binomial models, multiple regression, and quantile regression are applied resulting in the finding that female presence on a board is not significantly related to firm performance for this sample. Together with the picture that emerged from the paper’s first part, this result leads to the possibility that the search for an association between women on boards and company performance is not fundamental. Nevertheless, modern business societies worldwide may need to boost the female presence on managerial bodies. Current econometric evidence indicates that this is not harmful to corporate results.

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Gendering Corporate Boards and Conditional Effectiveness of Board Processes: Insights from a Sub-Saharan African Country

Global Business Review ◽

10.1177/09721509211036271 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 097215092110362

Author(s):

Obi Berko O. Damoah ◽

Yvonne Ayerki Lamptey ◽

Alex Anlesinya ◽

Barbara Naa Amanuah Tetteh

Keyword(s):

Corporate Governance ◽

African Country ◽

Board Members ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Corporate Board ◽

Board Processes ◽

Board Directors ◽

Women On Corporate Boards ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Board Level

This study explored how and when female board members make effective contribution to board processes in a sub-Saharan African country (Ghana), a context characterized by low female representation on corporate boards, but highly under-researched with respect to the gender and corporate governance literature. The study is based on interview data from 25 female board directors in Ghana. The results show that women on corporate boards contribute to effective board processes and outcomes when their proposed ideas during board meetings are accepted by other board members, implemented by management and impact positively on organizational outcomes such as enhanced financial, product and staff outcomes. These effective contributions of female board directors to corporate board processes can further be enhanced by suitable female directors’ personal-level conditions such as their human capital (advanced degree and professional qualification, and past board membership experience) and family support (supportive husbands, and having grown up children), as well as board-level conditions like occupying chairperson/leadership position on the board or committees, and regular attendance at board meetings. Consequently, this research study contributed to the gender and corporate governance literature by providing new evidence from under-researched geographical context on how women on corporate boards contribute to effective board processes. It further highlights personal and board-level conditions that are necessary for greater contributions of female directors to corporate board processes and outcomes in male-dominated societies and boards.

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The Composition Of Corporate Boards Of Directors: Does Industry Matter?

Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) ◽

10.19030/jber.v10i3.6854 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 157 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dan Marlin ◽

Scott W. Geiger

Keyword(s):

Boards Of Directors ◽

Retail Trade ◽

Future Research ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Font Size ◽

Corporate Board ◽

Publicly Traded ◽

Trade Finance ◽

Board Characteristics ◽

Publicly Traded Firms

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine differences in corporate board characteristics across four industries. Using a sample of 2592 US publicly traded firms, eleven board characteristics were identified and then examined across manufacturing, retail trade, finance/insurance, and services industries. Our analyses revealed significant differences in each of the eleven board characteristics examined. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.

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Determinants of Companies’ Board Composition in Emerging Markets

International Journal of Business Administration ◽

10.5430/ijba.v12n5p17 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Leticia L. N. Bellato

Keyword(s):

Emerging Market ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Independent Directors ◽

Board Composition ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Count Data Models ◽

Private Control ◽

Women On Boards ◽

Board Representation

This paper examines the determinants of female board representation for a sample of Brazilian listed companies for the year of 2018. Using count data models, we find that greater firm size, performance and board size lead to higher woman representation on companies’ boards. Also, that private control is associated with a lower number of women on boards. Most studies related to board composition focus on independent directors and are conducted in a developed countries’ setting. This work contributes to the extant literature in understanding what drives woman representation on corporate boards in an emerging market context and also would help to support the definition and implementation of gender diversity policies by showing possible impacts.

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Women Do the Job: The Reasons to Set Quota for Women on Boards

International Journal of Business and Management ◽

10.5539/ijbm.v13n12p167 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 167

Author(s):

Sara De Masi ◽

Agnieszka Słomka-Gołębiowska ◽

Andrea Paci

Keyword(s):

Audit Committee ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Board Structure ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Controlling Shareholder ◽

Female Directors ◽

Women On Boards ◽

Board Monitoring ◽

Women On Corporate Boards ◽

Family Connection

In 2012 Italy introduced quota to increase the number of women on corporate boards. The aim of our research is to shed more lights on how women on boards, after the enforcement of quota law, improve the board functions and the board structure. Our study focuses on all Italian FTSE MIB companies from 2008 to 2015. Italy is a country where the percentage of female directors was very low before quota. Female directors, when present, were linked through a family connection to the controlling shareholder. Our research demonstrates that a higher percentage of women on boards, after the quota, leads to a higher board members attendance and more board meetings, thus a better board monitoring. We document that, after quota, one more women to the board results in increasing the board involvement in strategy and the independence of audit committee. Our findings provide empirical support on the effectiveness of female directors, suggesting important implications of the quota legislation on the “type” of women elected.

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Lige for lige? Kønssegregering i Folketingudvalg og i ledelsen af det private erhvervsliv

Politik ◽

10.7146/politik.v19i1.27425 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Christina Fiig ◽

Mette Verner

Keyword(s):

Gender Segregation ◽

Foreign Affairs ◽

Board Members ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Public Attention ◽

Publicly Traded ◽

The Public ◽

Representation Of Women ◽

Explorative Study ◽

Parliamentary Politics

In this article, we describe and discuss the vertical and horizontal gender segregation in the elites of Danish Parliamentary politics and private business. Our new data on the gender distribution on corporate boards of publicly traded firms show how women are absent among board chairs and CEOs and illustrates the low representation of women among board members. Among members of Parliamentary committees a more equal gender representation is found, however, there is a clear tendency toward a vertical and a horizontal segregation. Our findings show that women MPs are less represented in certain Parliamentary committees on foreign affairs, economy, finance, tax and transportation. This distribution mirrors other country studies on Parliamentary committees. We propose two hypotheses in order to explain our explorative study: a thesis on a gender bias of certain policy areas and a hypothesis on the significance of the ‘public eye’. Concerning the latter, our results illustrate how institutions subject to ‘the public eye’ have more balanced gender compositions than institutions with less public attention, like corporate boards.

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The Plight of Women in Positions of Corporate Leadership in the United States, the European Union, and Japan: Differing Laws and Cultures, Similar Issues

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law ◽

10.36641/mjgl.26.2.plight ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 279

Author(s):

Bettina Binder ◽

Terry Morehead Dworkin ◽

Niculina Nae ◽

Cindy Schipani ◽

Irina Averianova

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

European Union ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Gender Discrimination ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

The United States ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

The European Union ◽

The Status

Gender diversity in corporate governance is a highly debated issue worldwide. National campaigns such as “2020 Women on Boards” in the United States and “Women on the Board Pledge for Europe” are examples of just two initiatives aimed at increasing female representation in the corporate boardroom. Several European countries have adopted board quotas as a means toward achieving gender diversity. Japan has passed an Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace to lay a foundation for establishing targets for promoting women. This Article examines the status of women in positions of leadership in the United States, several major countries in the European Union, and Japan. We focus on the legal backdrop in each jurisdiction regarding gender discrimination and studies tending to demonstrate the economic benefits of gender diversity. We conclude that although important steps have been taken in the direction of narrowing the gender gap in all jurisdictions examined, progress has been slow and difficult across the board. The issue of too few women at the top will not be resolved until there is a wider acceptance that female leaders can benefit their organizations and contribute to social and economic progress. Moreover, the presence of women on corporate boards is valuable in and of itself and the status quo ought to be further challenged in international business.

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