Inclusive Leadership, Elusive Support? Examining the Impact of Nonprofit Representative and Diverse Leadership on Community Support

This paper examines the relationship between board diversity and the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2013 to 2021. Focusing on racial, gender, and education diversity, the study analyses a sample of 30 REITs, representing 81 percent of the sector. The study employs fixed-effects models to show that racial diversity positively impacts funds from operations per share (FFO P/S) and earnings per share (EPS), suggesting that diverse boards enhance operational and earnings efficiencies. However, gender diversity has a significant negative effect on FFO P/S, indicating potential challenges in achieving operational efficiency. Education diversity shows minimal influence across all measures. These findings imply that racial diversity contributes positively to REIT performance, while the impact of gender diversity is more complex, and education diversity appears less significant. The study contributes to corporate governance literature by providing empirical evidence of board diversity’s impact within JSE-listed REITs. It recommends targeted strategies to enhance racial diversity and address the operational challenges associated with gender diversity, while suggesting a balanced approach to board composition, considering practical experience alongside educational backgrounds.

PurposeThis study aims to address gaps and limitations in the literature on corporate governance and stock liquidity. It explores the potential benefits of increasing female representation in corporate leadership, which has been a subject of debate and policy intervention in recent years.Design/methodology/approachBased on prior empirical studies and by integrating the insights of different theories, this study links gender diversity to stock liquidity and uses a multivariate panel regression approach.FindingsThe results show that gender diversity, both on the board and in executive positions, positively and consistently affects stock liquidity across different business cycles. The findings reinforce the notion that diverse executive leadership is crucial and influential irrespective of the prevailing economic conditions.Practical implicationsThis study has practical implications for investors, managers and policymakers who are interested in the benefits of gender diversity in corporate leadership. It suggests that increasing the percentage of female executives and board members can improve stock market liquidity, which is a key indicator of market efficiency and firm value.Social implicationsThis study advocates for gender equality and diversity in corporate leadership, which can benefit society. It demonstrates that the presence of women directors can enhance financial stability and thus benefit the stakeholders and the community.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the academic literature by examining the impact of gender diversity on board and executive levels on stock liquidity in the US market. Previous research on this topic has mainly relied on French or Australian data. Moreover, this study extends previous work through examining the case of executives’ gender diversity. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze the relationship between gender diversity and stock liquidity across different business cycles, providing a nuanced understanding of how economic contexts affect this relationship.

Does Gender Diversity in Board or Management Lead to Higher Organizational Performance? A Review

This study explores the effect of Indonesia's good corporate governance code on board diversity: ethnicity, nationality, gender, qualification, experience, composition, and multiple directorship diversity. The revised corporate governance code provides guidelines for better corporate governance practices. Therefore, board attributes such as diversity are among the best corporate governance practices. Two hundred and three of Indonesia's listed companies (1,421 firm years) are research objects. The data was collected from company annual reports and other internet sources. The data was analyzed using a pair sample t-test and distribution frequency. Based on the pair sample t-test, Oversight board ethnicity diversity, nationality diversity, gender diversity, and board composition significantly differ between pre- and post-revised codes. In addition, management board nationality diversity and gender diversity are also differences between the pre-and post-revised code. In most cases, updating code improves diversity, except for the Oversight Board's ethnic diversity. This study also provides the detailed average number and percentage of board diversity pre- and post-the-updated code of good corporate governance. This study implies that the revised code of good corporate governance increases the board diversity of Indonesian-listed companies. Since the last revised code was released in 2006, a new updated code of good corporate governance has been demanded.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between gender diversity in leadership and corporate social responsibility practices. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Research examining the relationship between gender diversity in leadership and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices suggests a significant correlation between the two variables. Numerous studies indicate that companies with greater gender diversity at the leadership level tend to exhibit stronger commitments to CSR initiatives. This correlation can be attributed to various factors, including enhanced decision-making processes, broader perspectives, and increased sensitivity to social and environmental concerns within diverse leadership teams. Additionally, gender-diverse leadership may foster a more inclusive organizational culture that values social responsibility and ethical conduct. Moreover, companies with women in leadership roles often prioritize issues such as diversity, employee well-being, community engagement, and environmental sustainability, which are integral aspects of CSR. Consequently, fostering gender diversity in leadership positions not only promotes gender equality but also contributes to the advancement of CSR objectives, ultimately enhancing organizational reputation, stakeholder trust, and long-term sustainability. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social identity theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory may be use to anchor future studies on assessing the relationship between gender diversity in leadership and corporate social responsibility practices. Implement diversity and inclusion programs aimed at increasing the representation of women in leadership positions. Advocate for regulatory frameworks that promote gender diversity in corporate leadership, such as quotas or disclosure requirements.

Board Diversity and Corporate Risk Taking

This study examines how and when nonprofit board performance is impacted by board diversity. Specifically, we investigate board diversity policies and practices as well as board inclusion behaviors as mediating mechanisms for the influence of age, gender, and racial/ethnic diversity of the board on effective board governance practices. The empirical analysis, using a sample of 1,456 nonprofit board chief executive officers, finds that board governance practices are directly influenced by the gender and racial diversity of the board and that board inclusion behaviors together with diversity policies and practices mediate the influence of the board’s gender and racial diversity on internal and external governance practices. Additionally, we found an interaction effect that indicates when boards have greater gender diversity, the negative impact of racial diversity on governance practices is mitigated. The findings suggest that board governance can be improved with more diverse membership, but only if the board behaves inclusively and there are policies and practices in place to allow the diverse members to have an impact.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between board diversity, as represented by the percentage of female, minority or female and minority directors on the boards of directors, and firm financial performance, and to explore the potential determinants of board diversity, using data from the Australian corporate sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the top 500 Australian companies as the initial data‐set. Firm performance measures include return on assets, return on equity and shareholder return. Several control variables are introduced in the regression analysis.FindingsThe results indicate that gender and racial diversity do not have significant influence on performance. It is reported that larger firms tend to have relatively more female members, and smaller firms or firms with larger boards may have more minority directors.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings should not be extrapolated to all firms as the sample is restricted to listed companies. To examine the complete impact of board diversity future research could consider non‐financial performance indicators.Practical implicationsThe analysis shows that greater diversity does not lead to poor performance, which suggests that gender and racial diversity could be achieved without a negative effect on shareholder wealth.Originality/valueIn addition to giving improved evidence on the effect of gender diversity on performance, the paper may be the first study which ascertains whether there is a “business case” for greater minority participation in boardrooms in the Australian context.

Board demography and divestitures: The impact of gender and racial diversity on divestiture rate and divestiture returns

To examine the evolution of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in US otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency programs and compare these figures with other residency programs. Retrospective database review. US residency programs. Information concerning minority and female representation in US residency programs was obtained from annually published graduate medical education reports by the Journal of the American Medical Association from 1975 to 2010. Minority representation among US population and university students was obtained from the US Census Bureau. The racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of otolaryngology residents was then compared with other medical fields (general surgery, family medicine, and internal medicine). Underrepresentation in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery is particularly disconcerting for African Americans (-2.3%/y, P = .09) and Native Americans (1.5%/y, P = .11) given their nonsignificant annual growth rates. Hispanic representation (17.3%/y, P < .0001) is growing in otolaryngology but is half the rate of growth of the Hispanic American population (32.8%/y, P < .0001). There is nonetheless promise for women (70.6%/y, P < .0001) and Asian Americans (63.0%/y, P < .0001), who demonstrated statistically significant growth trends. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the evolution of female and minority representation among US otolaryngology residents. Despite increasing gender, ethnic, and racial diversity among medical residents in general, female and certain minority group representation in US otolaryngology residency programs is lagging. These findings are in contrast to rising trends of diversity within other residency programs including general surgery.

Women, Minorities, and Leadership in Anesthesiology: Take the Pledge

Social media utilization by orthopedic surgery residency programs increased by 355% from the 2019 to 2021 residency application cycles. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, literature demonstrated an association between social media presence and diversity of residency programs. The goal of this study is to investigate the associations between social media presence, diversity and program rank following the dramatic increase in residency program social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media platforms affiliated with all orthopedic surgery residency programs acknowledged by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) were identified via manual Google, Twitter and Instagram searches. Overall program rankings and research rankings were collected from the Doximity Navigator rankings list; a lower program rank denoted better-ranked programs (e.g., rank #1 represents the best program). Residency program demographics were collected through the Orthopedic Residency Information Network (ORIN) and binned into four quartiles to adjust for multivariable logistic regressions. Residency programs were categorized as “gender diverse” if either resident physicians were composed of ≥29.8% women, equivalent to one SD above the mean of 19.7% or if attending physicians were composed of ≥21.7% women, equivalent to one SD above the mean of 13.6%. Similarly, residency programs were categorized as “racially diverse” if either resident physicians were composed of ≥32.8% Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine (URiM), equivalent to one SD above the mean of 19.1% or if attending physicians were composed of ≥ 27.3% URiM, equivalent one SD above the mean of 13.8%. All data was collected during fall 2023. Confounding variables were controlled by regression analyses. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to further assess comparisons between presence of social media and program ranking, gender diversity and ethnic diversity. A total of 179 orthopedic surgery residency programs accredited by the ACGME were included in the ORIN database. Of the 179 programs, 145 (81.0%) programs had Instagram, 86 (48.0%) had Twitter, 81 (45.3%) had both Instagram and Twitter accounts and 29 (16.2%) programs had neither. Pearson Correlation Coefficient tests demonstrated a negative linear relationship between total number of social media platforms per program and overall program rankings (R2= -0.53, p&lt;0.01) as well as research program ranking (R2=-0.49, p&lt;0.01). Spearman Correlation Coefficient tests confirmed overall program ranking (R2=-0.55, p&lt;0.01) and research program ranking (R2=-0.51, p&lt;0.001) as the dataset did not follow bell curve distribution. Chi-Square tests of independence did not demonstrate a significant relationship between presence of social media and gender diversity (x2=0.17, p=0.68) and Fisher’s exact tests confirmed no statistical significance (p=1.00). Chi-Square tests of independence also did not demonstrate a relationship between presence of social media and racial diversity (x2=0.25, p=0.62) and Fisher’s exact tests confirmed no statistical significance (p=0.64). The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted social media use by orthopedic residency programs. Although prior literature demonstrated social media presence was associated with increased gender and racial applicant diversity, our findings show this association is no longer present. This may be due to the significant increase in social media use during the pandemic. Future research is encouraged to investigate alternative strategies to diversify orthopedic residency programs.

From Intention to Action: Operationalizing AGA Diversity Policy to Combat Racism and Health Disparities in Gastroenterology

For the past 50 years, significant gaps have existed in gender and racial diversity across various medical specialties, despite the many benefits of a diverse physician workforce. One proposed approach to increasing diversity is top-down diversification, in which diverse leadership results in increased minority and female workforce representation. To investigate the changes in academic medical leadership diversity from 2007 to 2019 and to assess the recent leadership diversity of various specialties compared with the averages across all specialties. This was a cross-sectional analysis of physicians in varying academic roles in 2007, 2019, and 2020. Demographic data were collected via specialized reports from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Included were 4 primary care specialties (internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology [OB/GYN] and 4 surgical specialties (orthopedic surgery, neurologic surgery, otolaryngology [ENT], general surgery). Study participants were faculty, program directors, and chairpersons. Data were analyzed for the years 2007, 2019, and 2020. Self-reporting of demographic information to residency programs collected via the Graduate Medical Education Track Survey. Proportions of each race/ethnicity and sex among cohorts of participants and comparisons between them. The total number of individuals investigated included 186 210 faculty from 2019 (79 441 female [42.7%]), 6417 program directors from 2020 (2392 female [37.3%]), 1016 chairpersons from 2007 (89 female [8.8%]), and 2424 chairpersons from 2019 (435 female [17.9%]). When comparing chairperson diversity from 2007 to 2019, only internal medicine and general surgery experienced significant increases in minority (aggregate category used throughout the investigation to refer to anyone who self-identified as anything other than non-Hispanic White) representation (90% increase [11.7 percentage points, from 13.0% in 2007 to 24.7% in 2019]; P = .01 and 96% increase [13.0 percentage points, from 13.5% in 2007 to 26.5% in 2019]; P < .001), respectively; meanwhile, several specialties saw significant increases in female representation during this period (family medicine by 107.4%, P =.002; pediatrics by 83.1%, P =.006; OB/GYN by 53.2%, P =.045; orthopedic surgery by +4.1 percentage points, P =.04; general surgery by 226.9%, P =.005). In general, surgical specialties had lower leadership diversity than the average diversity of all residency programs, whereas primary care specialties had similar or increased diversity. Study results suggest that some specialties have made significant contributions toward bridging diversity gaps whereas others continue to lag behind. Our recommendations to improve academic medical leadership diversity include programs and institutions (1) publishing efforts and outcomes of diversity representation, (2) incorporating a representative demographic for leadership selection committees, and (3) actively promoting the importance of diversity throughout the selection process.

Diversity in Cardiothoracic Surgery Training: Room for Improvement