Gender Diversity in Computer Science at a Large Public R1 Research University: Reporting on a Self-study

With the number of jobs in computer occupations on the rise, there is a greater need for computer science (CS) graduates than ever. At the same time, most CS departments across the country are only seeing 25–30% of women students in their classes, meaning that we are failing to draw interest from a large portion of the population. In this work, we explore the gender gap in CS at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, a large public R1 research university, using three data sets that span thousands of students across six academic years. Specifically, we combine these data sets to study the gender gaps in four core CS courses and explore the correlation of several factors with retention and the impact of these factors on changes to the gender gap as students proceed through the CS courses toward completing the CS major. For example, we find that a significant percentage of women students taking the introductory CS1 course for majors do not intend to major in CS, which may be a contributing factor to a large increase in the gender gap immediately after CS1. This finding implies that part of the retention task is attracting these women students to further explore the major. Results from our study include both novel findings and findings that are consistent with known challenges for increasing gender diversity in CS. In both cases, we provide extensive quantitative data in support of the findings.

Governance Mechanism, Intell ectual Capita l Disclosure, a nd Firm Value

This study entitled the influence of corporate governance mechanism on firm value with intellectual capital disclosure as an intervening variable. This study aims to examine the direct and indirect effect of board size, gender diversity, educational background, block holder ownership, and foreign ownership both simultaneously and partially on intellectual capital disclosure and firm value. This study examines the mediating effect of intellectual capital disclosure in the relationship between corporate governance mechanism and firm value. This study used the companies included in intellectual capital intensive industries in Indonesia Stock Exchange as the sample for 2017-2019. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling, with 243 data from 81 companies. Analysis techniques used in this study were statistic descriptive, multiple regression, and path analysis used SPSS 23 for windows. The hypothesis testing results show that corporate governance mechanisms simultaneously influence intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) and firm value. Partially, only board size influences both ICD and substantial value, and educational background only influences strong value. The Sobel test shows that ICD doesn't mediate the effect of all variables related to corporate governance mechanism on firm value.

Corporate governance and the quality of CSR disclosure: lessons from an emerging economy

Purpose This paper is motivated by the absence of rules that govern the practice of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the corporate governance factors that impact the quality of CSRD. This study further examines the moderating role of family ownership and educational qualifications of female directors on the relation between board gender diversity and CSRD quality. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a sample of 94 non-financial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange to collect data on CSRD based on a checklist of 41 items for seven years from 2010–2016. The quality of CSRD is measured using a four-dimensional method that encompasses relative quantity, disclosure intensity, degree of accuracy and management outlook. Findings This study finds that CSRD quality is far from satisfactory in Jordan. The results also suggest that board size, auditor type, company size and profitability are positively associated with CSRD quality. On the other hand, factors such as chief executive officer duality, board diversity, ownership concentration and financial leverage are negatively associated with CSRD quality. In addition, the results of the empirical analysis suggest that the negative relationship between the quality of CSRD and the presence of female board members is stronger for family-owned companies. By contrast, the negative relationship between the quality of CSRD and the presence of female board members is weakened when the company has more educated, skilled and qualified female directors. Originality/value The originality of this study is manifested in the development of a quantitative measurement of CSRD quality.

“The Light at the End of the Tunnel”: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Adults in Portuguese Healthcare

This work analyses experiences of LGBTQ+ people accessing healthcare in Portugal. A total of 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with queer adults (18–59 years old). The thematic analysis and thematic networks brought to light how structural cis-heteronorms are compliant with the maintenance of invisibility regarding sexual and gender diversity. As a consequence, experiences of direct and indirect discrimination show us how crucial it is to have well prepared healthcare providers, capable of embracing diversity and creating safe spaces that allow us to shorten the path between Portugal’s progressive legal frame and the people lived experiences.

Influence of Gender Diversity in Boards on Family and Non-family Businesses Towards Innovation and Creativity

This article aims to understand better the impact of the diversity of gender in boards on the innovation and creativity of companies in the context of the structure of business—family businesses and non-family businesses. Based on women’s participation in decision-making and family firm literature, we argue that women directors/executives’ impact on decision-making will rely on their relative power and credibility within the board. These dynamics are especially crucial, bringing creativity to family firm’s boardrooms as well. The results show that increases in innovation and creativity with women’s presence in family firms’ boards are due mainly to outsider non-family and insider family women directors/executives. Even after the division of women directors into independent and non-independent directors, the finding suggests that women independent directors have an impact on the company’s innovations. Conversely, women chair minimal effects on the innovation and creativity advances of the businesses. Furthermore, In the family business, the influence of women managers and women independent managers on the innovation and creativity of a company is slightly stronger.

Gender, talent management and firm performance: MNCs' female-focused talent management practices in Russia

PurposeThere is a substantial void in the understanding of the effect of talent management (TM) practices specifically targeted at females on firm performance. This paper investigates the relationship between female-focused TM and firm performance with the aim of demonstrating the importance of gender diversity in firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed and empirically tested a contextually embedded model using data from 103 multinational corporations in Russia to examine the effect of female-focused TM on firm performance.FindingsThe authors found an overall positive relationship between female-focused TM and firm performance. The authors’ analysis also revealed significant positive effects of female-focused talent development and talent retention, but not talent attraction, on firm performance.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the vibrant TM scholarship by focusing on female-focused talent attraction, development and retention practices.

Effects of other comprehensive income on audit fees and audit report lag in Egyptian firms: does board gender diversity matter?

PurposeThis paper aims to (1) investigate the effect of other comprehensive income (OCI) on audit fees (AF) and audit report lag (ARL) and (2) test the moderating effect of board gender diversity (BGD) on such relationships.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses data extracted from the financial reports for a sample of Egyptian firms from 2013 to 2019, where the data are processed using the Panel Corrected Standards Errors (PCSE) and the Structure Equation Model (SEM).FindingsThe results reveal that (1) the OCI existence and OCI volume have a significant positive effect on AF and ARL, and (2) the presence of female directors on the board and the percentage of female representation affect the relationship between OCI and AF positively, but this effect on the relationship between OCI and ARL is insignificant.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has some limitations, where the analysis uses a small sample of Egyptian listed firms, as well as, the measures that were used as proxies of the study variables, which do not necessarily express the most suitable ones.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper would (1) provide signals to the audit market, the professional bodies in Egypt and stakeholders about the determinants of AF and ARL, (2) provide guidelines that support the capital market authority to consider gender diversity in boards of companies taking into considerations its impact on AF and ARL, and (3) help the accounting setters in emerging economies as Egypt in drafting more suitable standards and guidelines regarding OCI.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the literature on OCI, where it investigates the effect of OCI on ARL, which was not yet studied in prior studies. Also, this paper complements and extends the literature by providing empirical evidence from one of the emerging markets as Egypt about the effect of BGD on the relationships between OCI, AF and ARL, as these relationships have not been examined before.

Gender Diversity Effect on Tax Avoidance and Firm Risk

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of gender diversity on firm risk with tax avoidance as a mediating variable in manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). This study used SPSS version 20.0 to process the data. The sample of this research is 51 manufacturing companies listed on the IDX using multiple regression panel data. This study uses financial statement data for the 2015 – 2019 period. The findings of this study are (1) there is a negative effect of gender diversity on tax avoidance; (2) there is a negative effect of gender diversity on firm risk; (3) there is a positive effect of tax avoidance on firm risk; (4) Gender diversity has an influence on firm risk through tax avoidance. The limitations of this study are as follows: the research sample is only in manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange with a limited number of samples because during the observation period there are companies that are losing, suspending, and delisting. Therefore, this research suggests that (1) Further research can expand the scope of the research sample or compare it with companies in other industrial sectors. (2) Further research can increase the number of other variables, such as Corporate Social Responsibility by using the Blau-Index measurement (1975) so that the measurement can be more detail and constructive. (3) Further research can use other samples in Asean countries by comparing the success rate of anti-corruption disclosure in ASEAN countries. The practical implications include the following: (1) the role of gender diversity in the company is very necessary for implementing Good Corporate Governance (GCG) thus a healthy company will be created so that the company's risk does not occur in the future. (2) the role of the government is needed in making policies so that companies do not do tax evasion. The originality of the research includes this study, which is the first to analyze gender diversity on firm risk through tax avoidance.

Banking disclosure and banking crises in Africa: does board gender diversity play a role?

The paper aims to investigate the impact of board gender diversity in explaining the relationship between bank disclosure and the predicted probability of banking crises in Africa. The study employs robust panel estimates based on an aggregate dataset of banks in 42 African countries over the 2006–2018 periods. From the study, board gender diversity (more women on boards and the presence of women on boards) has a positive impact on information disclosure of banks. We find that board gender diversity and bank disclosure have the possibility of reducing a banking crisis. We observe that board gender diversity enhances the reductive effect of bank disclosure on a predicted probability of a banking crisis. The implication is that women on boards provide prudent decisions on financial information disclosure that significantly reduce the possibility of a banking crises in order to ensure stable banking systems.