Female Leadership and Firm Performance across Business Contexts

Abstract

The stark underrepresentation of women in top management roles in today’s organizations has garnered much interest due to the social and ethical implications of such an imbalance. Above and beyond these moral arguments for the promotion of more female leaders, this research offers support for the business case of doing so. By drawing from theory in the female leadership and gender diversity literatures, this research helps to elucidate how the inclusion of female leaders at the top of organizations is positively associated with organizational performance by distinguishing between financial and nonfinancial performance. In line with calls for attention to the contextual influences and circumstances that render female leaders more or less effective for organizations, this study also offers new insights into the role of female leaders for firm performance by investigating the impact of such leadership in family and nonfamily businesses. Family businesses are a highly relevant context for the study of female leadership as they appear to offer an institutional context that is more favorable to women in senior positions. Our findings illustrate the importance of investigating more nuanced implications of female representation in top management teams, including different types of performance outcomes and types of organizations.