The impact of board gender diversity on financial performance of listed firms in Tanzania: A panel analysis

Abstract

This study seeks to determine whether gender diversity in the boardroom improves the financial performance of listed firms in Tanzania by examining theoretical and empirical findings and using 90 firm-year observations of 15 listed firms over six years from 2016–2021 from firms listed at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). Return on equity (ROE) and Return on asset (ROA) were used as financial performance metrics. This study uses a balanced panel data analysis. The results showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the percentages of women directors on boards or in executive roles and the financial performance of listed firms in Tanzania as measured by ROA and ROE. The results are inconsistent with theories of agency and resource dependence. The study is restricted to a sample of listed firms from DSE in Tanzania. The scope of future studies should be expanded to include listed firms across the East African region and more explanatory variables such as the Blau index in measuring boardroom gender diversity.