Female Leadership Roles Research Articles

Sustainability disclosure quality of Nigerian listed firms: the role of female leadership, board communication, and external assurance

Sustainability disclosure quality of Nigerian listed firms: the role of female leadership, board communication, and external assurance

Female leadership in sports coaching: a case analysis of Chinese coaches through the ability–motivation–opportunity framework

Purpose This study aims to investigate how the role of female leadership works in sports coaching. Drawing key insights from the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) framework of human resource management, the authors explore the underlying mechanisms of female leadership and the role female coaches play in enabling athletes to develop their self-initiative through AMO enhancement. Design/methodology/approach The sample in this study is made up of 11female coaches from eight teams in China selected using purposive sampling. Data was collected and analyzed on various aspects of female leadership. Findings Analysis of interviews and secondary data show that the mechanisms and enablers related to AMO enhancing practices stimulated by female coaching leadership can increase team performance. Research limitations/implications This study opens new avenues for sports science research and strengthens the theoretical and practical understanding of the intentions and mechanisms female coaches implement as leaders in sports coaching. Originality/value First, this study contributes to the AMO framework by helping form new theoretical insights based on the understanding of female sports coaching mechanisms. Second, this study provides novel insights into female leadership literature by investigating the mechanisms of female leadership in the context of sports exercise. Third, this study also contributes to the body of research on sports coaching in Asia, especially that of Chinese women in such leadership roles.

Female Leadership Roles: Subjectivity and Self-Representation

Abstract This article delves into the impact of digital activism on the leadership style of female-led non-governmental organisations operating under restricted access to opportunities. The focus is on Muslim sisterhood activism, examining the shift from offline to online activism led by the younger generation. The article analyses the barriers that have historically prevented Muslim sisterhood activists from playing leadership roles within the Muslim Brotherhood group and compares offline and online leadership roles using the case study of the Revolutionary Coalition for Egyptian Women from 2014 to 2023, with a focus on 2014. The study reveals that the younger generation of Muslim women has adopted a language that prioritises self-representation and body politics over religious discourse, indicating a heightened awareness of gender politics during the period between 2014 and 2023. To overcome state-imposed restrictions, the younger generation of the Muslim sisterhood has contradicted their well-established values on women’s roles and focused their political agendas on regaining popularity in Egyptian society. By exploring the impact of different political opportunities on women’s leadership roles through the political process paradigm, this article bridges a gap in the literature on resistant politics, feminism, leadership, and digital activism. The study shows that the younger generation of Muslim women is spearheading a strategic change in the resistant activist discourse, utilising the new digital space for activism to promote their cause.

The role of female leadership in times of financial crisis – an analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020 the new COVID-19-virus brought an external shock to the stock markets. In this situation effective leadership was essential to bring companies through the crisis.
 Political observation showed that countries led by women managed the pandemic situation more effectively than those led by men. Therefore, the research objective of this article is to examine whether female leaders were also more successful to guide companies through the pandemic. Success in this study is defined as financial performance based on stock prices.
 To find out whether female managers showed a better financial performance during this crisis, this study examined all companies listed on the German Stock Exchange, which have at least 50 % women in the board. To compare this female managed companies to firms managed mainly by male managers, a market value weighted index for the female managed companies was conducted and compared to the German Stock Index DAX by looking at several financial key figures.
 The analysis of these key figures shows that female managed companies outperformed male managed companies in terms of return as well as risk in the year of the COVID-pandemic but were not able to keep their overperformance in the subsequent years. This may be an indicator that women are superior in leading a company through a crisis but suffer in terms of performance when times have calmed down.

Gender representation among speaking and leader roles at European cardio-thoracic surgical annual meetings.

Our goal was to evaluate gender representation among session leaders and abstract presenters at European cardio-thoracic surgical annual meetings. We did a descriptive study of the gender distribution among session leaders and abstract presenters at 2 European cardio-thoracic international meetings from 2017 to 2022. Data from publicly available programmes were used to generate a list of session leaders and abstract presenters. The primary outcome was to evaluate the proportion of female sessions leaders at the annual meetings. Descriptive analyses were performed including the Cochran-Armitage trend test for linear trend of proportions. A total of 1025 sessions of 11 annual meetings of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons were examined. A total of 397 (13.2%) out of 3007 total session leaders and 955 (15.2%) out of 6251 abstract presenters were female. From 2017 to 2022, the proportions of both female session leaders and abstract presenters trended significantly [10.4% to 21.9% (P < 0.001) and 13.7% to 18.3% (P < 0.001), respectively]. The EACTS female members and female meeting attendees significantly increased from 2017 to 2022 [11.1% to 15.9% (P < 0.001) and 23.7% to 26.9% (P < 0.001)], respectively. Most of the women attendees at the EACTS and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons meetings who were session leaders and speakers came from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Women are under-represented compared to men in leadership and speaking roles at European cardio-thoracic surgical annual meetings. In the past few years, an encouraging positive trend over time for female leadership roles has been noted; as a result, the proportion of female society members is represented at the annual meetings. However, a substantial gender gap still exists in leading roles of meeting attendees.

Artisan social enterprises in Zambia: women leveraging purpose to scale impact

PurposeThis study aims to provide a contextualized look at the artisan sector in Zambia and asks: What factors contribute to scaling positive impact in artisan ventures in Zambia, and how can these factors be leveraged to promote positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for women and their communities.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to gain a multi-layered understanding of artisan craft social enterprises in Zambia.FindingsPurpose is found to be the primary driver of social and environmental impact in artisan social enterprises in Zambia, with female leadership a critical factor. Access to finance, markets and resources are also essential to help these organizations achieve their social missions.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study provides valuable insights into the artisan sector, its scope was limited to the Zambian context, making the generalizability of the findings to other geographies uncertain.Originality/valueThis research makes a valuable contribution to the literature on social enterprises by highlighting the critical role of female leadership and purpose in driving positive impact in artisan businesses in Zambia. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of understanding the mechanisms through which artisan social enterprises create positive change. The study highlights the importance of artisan craft employment for women in Zambia and illustrates the impact of Zambian artisan ventures, both formal social enterprises and informal businesses, on creating positive social and environmental impacts in the country.

Impact of gender inequality on the educational and career development of young epileptologists in Italy: A survey of the Young Epilepsy Section – Italian chapter

ObjectiveThe Young Epilepsy Section-Italian chapter (YES-I) is the Italian section of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE)-YES. It was founded in 2019 with the aim of increasing the involvement of young epileptologists within scientific associations and facilitating their educational training. The Education and Career Task Force designed a survey on the impact of gender inequality on the educational and professional growth of young epileptologists. MethodsThe survey was proposed via QR code during the 43rd National Congress of the Italian League Against Epilepsy (Padua, 8–10 June 2022), and subsequently distributed via email until 7th September 2022. ResultsOf the respondents, 73.6% were female. Of note, 51% of the entire sample answered that they found “no impact” of gender on educational activities (64.3% male against 46.1% female). Only 10% of women stated they have seen very much gender-related inequality in their education or career. However, the majority of our cohort (66%) thought that gender had a negative impact on progression within a scientific society, as well as in female leadership roles in clinical practice (67.9%). Furthermore female medical staff received little work recognition (56.6%). Lastly, 83% of responders did not have children, and only 37.7% declared their colleagues to be empathic in relation to absences for family emergencies. ConclusionsLack of awareness of the gender inequality issue might explain inconsistencies in the findings of our survey. Despite the remarkable progress of women rights over the last century, our survey suggests that disparities in academic and decision-making roles exist also in the epileptology field.

Market perceptions on the role of female leadership in adapting to climate change

PurposeThis empirical study aims to examine the association between gender-diverse boards and corporate carbon emissions and estimates the effect of board gender diversity on stock price reactions to climate activism. This study contributes to the inconclusive literature on the link between gender-diverse boards and firms' financial performance by examining a single and plausibly isolated channel of association (i.e. attention to climate change).Design/methodology/approachThe authors use parametric and non-parametric panel data techniques to examine the association between gender-diverse boards to corporate carbon emission. The system generalized methods of moments (SYS-GMM) estimator is used to address endogeneity concerns. The authors use the event study methodology to examine difference in stock price reactions to climate activism.FindingsThe results show that high board gender diversity is associated with lower corporate carbon emissions and higher stock returns to climate activism.Originality/valueThis is the first study to isolate public attention to climate change as a relevant channel through which gender-diverse boards have an impact of firms' financial performance. This study is timely and important due to the immediate threat of global warming and the recent introduction of mandatory board gender quotas in many countries around the world.

Female leadership and financial reporting quality in Egypt

PurposeMany countries are enacting regulations or/and recommendations to promote gender equality in the workplace, especially in the top leadership and management positions. However, despite current research on gender diversity and firm outcomes, the authors know comparatively little about how different female leadership roles drive such outcomes. This study explores this notion in an emerging market by examining the effect of female leadership on financial reporting quality in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses multiple regression analyses for a sample of 1,686 firm-year observations listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange over the period 2011–2020.FindingsThis study’s results show that female directors, female executives and females on audit committees are positively associated with financial reporting quality. Further, the results suggest that executive female directors are less involved in income decreasing earnings management practices. The findings are robust to possible omitted variables bias, alternative measurements and endogeneity issues. Taken together, the results are in line with the view that gender diversity is an effective monitoring instrument, which attenuates agency conflict and thus upholds financial reporting quality.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may expand the analysis performed in this study by using other proxies of financial reporting quality (e.g. earnings persistence, earnings predictability, conservatism and restatements). Also, the authors did not investigate the characteristics related to female directors (e.g. education, experience and age) due to data availability. Future research may examine the effect of these characteristics on female directors regarding financial reporting quality.Practical implicationsThe evidence about the importance of female leadership in shaping financial reporting quality may inform future policy and regulatory initiatives.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the growing literature related to gender diversity. First, this study extensively investigates the leadership aspects related to female directors in both mentoring and executive positions. Second, the evidence reached is based on three different proxies of financial reporting quality. Thus, unlike previous studies, conclusions were reached based on a solid basis to support the reliability of the results. These findings should be of great interest to policymakers, academics and stakeholders.

Role of female leadership in corporate innovation: a systematic literature review

PurposeThis study aims to explore how female leadership contributes to corporate innovation through a systematic literature review. The authors provide a framework based on empirical studies to provide a broader perspective of corporate innovation based on female leadership.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the most recent developments in leadership, a thorough literature study is carried out to discover the antecedents of women’s leadership and their contribution to corporate innovation, with an emphasis on literature published between 2013 and 2022. An intensive research plan was developed, and 1,120 outcomes were obtained. Finally, 35 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the study. A comprehensive and systematic approach is followed, with the goal of not just summarizing current empirical studies on the subject, but also including an aspect of analytical critique besides organizational policies.FindingsThe findings show that organizations with female chief executive officers (CEOs) are more likely to innovate. When female CEOs come on board, organizations are more likely to engage in creative activities. Research also reveals that female CEOs who head organizations are more likely to engage in new and creative business practices that are environment friendly. Moreover, developing nations are encouraged to accelerate the adoption of structural transformation initiatives that would provide women with access to information and technologies.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited to literature published between 2013 and 2022.Practical implicationsIt is important to select the organizational response to board female representation institutional logic to reflect the intended sort of performance. Organizational stakeholders were unfavorable to female leadership, implying that such perceptions harm women but benefit men. Prior research emphasizes distinctions in leadership effectiveness between males and females, diverting attention elsewhere from examining the reasons that generate differences among executives in organizations. For policymakers to promote more women in top positions based on female knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), they need to understand how firms deviate from traditional standards. In addition, it is crucial to pay attention to how male and female leaders are supported by their followers.Social implicationsThis research offers organizations a holistic view regarding female leadership and helps them understand their contribution in innovation.Originality/valueIn modern, dynamic and technological landscapes, female participation is one of the key aspects that corporates consider to sustain and drive growth. That is why, modern societies without women’s contribution to economic growth and innovation are deemed incomplete. The current study highlights their contribution to the economy. Literature also indicates that the presence of female leadership on boards impacts corporate innovation, as well as financial performance and contextual factors.c

Political Role of Female Leadership in The Sub-Continent

This paper endeavors to analyze the social status of women in the Subcontinent in different eras such as the Early Medieval Period, women enjoyed all rights and high status in life. Hinduism was never allowed to participate in any ceremony without their women and they enjoyed equal rights as men have in society. In this paper, an effort is done to highlight the situation of the early Modern period with the arrival of Muslims, the position of women become deteriorated and Islam has a great impact on the status of women by Hijab and other limitations, to describe the British period was the time of changing and reforms to improve the women’ status in society. The focal objectives of the study are to describe the role some prominent Muslim women played in the political field before the existence of Pakistan and to evaluate the efforts of movements and organizations for women’s political, social, and legal rights. This paper through the deductive method of research also describes that Pakistan Movement proved a vital point for women to show their importance in the political field and Quaid-e-Azam also encouraged women to work in politics before and after the partition of the Sub-continent. Some suggestions are also made for the importance of women in politics. Social and legal reforms are required to enhance the political status of women. Religious people also can play an important to elevate the status of women in politics because no nation can make progress without the participation of women in politics.

When the Going Gets Tough: In-group Bias and Board Gender Diversity in the Wake of Economic Shocks

Despite substantial benefits to organizations, increasing gender diversity in corporate boards remains an elusive problem due to persistent in-group biases that favor men. We engage in this conversation by probing theoretically and empirically the effects of economic shocks on board gender diversity (BGD) and the role of female leadership along with regulatory elements (i.e., gender quotas and corporate governance codes) in tackling this bias. We test our predictions using a large dataset of 6,582 firms and 45,610 observations in a quasi-experimental design that captures the heterogeneity of economic crisis in an international sample of 23 countries. Our results confirm a robust decline in BGD in the wake of an economic shock and a complex interplay between female leadership and the regulatory environment. Our findings contribute to leadership research on the bias faced by out-group minorities within organizational upper echelons and female leadership's role in dealing with pervasive organizational biases.

Are Your Employees Hopeful at Work? The Influence of Female Leadership, Gender Diversity and Inclusion Climate on Japanese Employees’ Hope

There are two well-known truths about Japan: one is that Japan is one of the most advanced economies, which takes pride in its highly advanced technology, social infrastructure and system; the other is that Japan ranks lowest at women’s social participation among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Even though the Japanese government has initiated programs to promote female participation and advancement in society, these initiatives have not yet borne remarkable fruit. This study intends to address this issue by investigating the effectiveness of female leadership in Japan, specifically its effect on organizations’ gender diversity and inclusion (D&I) climate and employees’ task-related positive attitudes. Synthesizing social information processing theory and social identity theory, the study examines 306 Japanese employees working with their female supervisors in medium- and large-sized manufacturing companies. The findings show that female ambidextrous leadership contributes to shape and strengthen a gender D&I climate and ultimately enhances employees’ hope on their work. In addition, the positive effect of a gender D&I climate on employees’ hope is the same for all employees regardless of gender. The findings clarify the role of female leadership and the underlying psychological mechanism through which female leadership influences employees’ positive work attitudes. This first empirical study in Japan contributes to the research on female leadership and D&I management.

When dark deeds come to light: Countering negative gender/power tropes from Bible to boardroom

Gender bias in leadership is an egregious yet common reality in the societal mores of male-dominant cultures. Contentious ecclesial debates about gender bias pit prejudices against female leadership roles when girded by biblical tropes engaged to disparage female character and leadership behavior. Sexualized imagery in the textual narrative is misappropriated to libel females who are leading change with ethical and behavioral competencies lauded in their male counterparts. In the politically charged context of recent national elections, the newly installed Vice President of the United States was publicly labeled a “Jezebel” to connote a racially and sexually derisive trope calling into question a woman’s scruples in private spheres as well as disparaging her agency. As I refer to Tamura Lomax’s extensive analysis of this trope, I examine in this article the hermeneutical misappropriation of Bathsheba imagery, wherein the behavior of biblical figure King David is normalized as the beloved of God while Bathsheba is villainized. The presumptive insinuation is that women use sexual guiles to advance careers, social station, or positional power. Judgmental inequities in contemporary and biblical examples raise an urgency to counter negative gender/power tropes from the Bible to the boardroom.

Female leadership in organisational communication perspective: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review aimed to analyse the studies on organisational communication, especially female leadership. The data collection was conducted on Google Scholar, Researchgate, and other reputable journals using the following keywords: “female leadership in organisational communication,” “women, leadership and organisation,” and “organisation, leadership and gender.” From these searches, fifty articles were investigated for the role of female leadership in organisational communication perspective. The result indicates that women can carry out their role as leaders in line with the organisational transformations. As leaders, women must be able to become the main communicator in the organisation. The results also reveal that from the perspective of organisational communication, many female leaders use democratic leadership styles. In terms of Role Theory, we found that female leaders can carry out their roles well, thus positively impacting the organisation.&#x0D;

Would Overconfident CEOs Engage More in Environment, Social, and Governance Investments? With a Focus on Female Representation on Boards

This study examines the relationship between CEO overconfidence, environment, social, and governance investments, and firm value. Drawing on insights from upper echelon and agency theory, greater female representation on boards is expected to act as an independent monitoring mechanism to control and reconcile CEO overconfidence which leads to enhancement of corporate value induced by environment, social, and governance investments. Empirical evidence in this study finds that, on average, overconfident managers tend to engage in ESG investments in South Korea. Furthermore, in firms with high environment, social, and governance investments, the negative association between CEO overconfidence and firm value is mitigated, showing that environment, social, and governance investments are effective moderators in controlling and constraining managerial overconfidence. Finally, we find that the joint impact of CEO overconfidence and environment, social, and governance investments on corporate value is distinctive in firms with female board representation. Taken together, we find that negative effects associated with CEO overconfidence can be alleviated by the role of female leadership that links corporate environment, social, and governance investments to firm value.

Female Leadership as a Moderator on Human Resource Flexibility Affecting Firm Performance

From the works of scholars in the field of Human Resource Management (HRM), conceptualization establishes that Human Resource (HR) Flexibility is important in a firm’s sustainability. Skill flexibility, behavior flexibility, and HR practice flexibility have been acknowledged in the literature as the dimensions of HR flexibility with a significant impact on performance for the sustainability of firms in today’s turbulent environments. This paper explores the moderation role of Female Leadership (FL) between HR Flexibility (HRF) and Firm Performance (FP). Furthermore, the authors also investigate the individual effect of skill, behavior, and HR practice flexibility moderated interaction of Female leadership on performance of firms. Data was collected using a questionnaire as an instrument from 202 HR managers in Ghana. Using correlation and regression analyses to test for the interaction modeling, the hypotheses of the study are tested. The results confirm a moderation of Female leadership on the relationship between HR Flexibility and firm performance. The findings revealed that there is a positive effect of HRF on firm performance (HR-related and Market-related outcomes) which is reinforced by the moderator. The results reached in this paper contribute to the literature of HR flexibility on firm performance. The paper brings insight to the strategic role of Female leadership, so far as flexibility is concerned for higher organizational capability.

Times Up: Does Female Leadership Reduce Workplace Sexual Harassment?

We examine the role of female leadership in reducing the incidence of workplace sexual harassment. We estimate the incidence rate of sexual harassment through textual analysis of employees’ job reviews, published online during the period 2011-2017. We find that firms with a higher proportion of women on the board of directors and firms with a female CEO experience less sexual harassment. An increase of one female director is associated with an 18.2% decrease in the sexual harassment rate. The mechanism for reduced sexual harassment is linked to overall improved social policy. Compared to firms with male CEOs, firms with female CEOs experience 48.3% less sexual harassment, which translates into estimated savings of up to $81.3 million per year for the average firm. Our results are robust to several adjustments for endogeneity concerns.

The Role of Gender Diversity in Downside Risk: Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Listed Firms

Corporate governance has been marked as an important component of the fast-growing pace of the Vietnam economy recently. Aligning with the concern that gender plays a critical role in corporate management, this study aims to reveal the entire benefits of the appearance of women on board to reduce downside risk in the frontier countries. By using a unique dataset from Vietnamese listed firms and appropriate econometric methods, we present tight results that the presentation of women at firm management level is more likely to lessen the downside risk. In particular, female non-senior reduces all risk attributes, whereas the presence of women in executive board decrease firm risk only. Furthermore, the decreasing of individual and systemic risk are additionally driven by female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and chairman. We found strong evidence that female leadership may decrease risk-taking in the low-risk firms at all managerial levels but not in the case of a female CEO. In summary, by examining data from specific frontier areas such as Vietnam, we confirm that the role of female leadership in terms of reducing the downside risk depend on their power managerial levels and the firm-risk behavior.

Colonial Intimacies: Interethnic Kinship, Sexuality, and Marriage in Southern California, 1769–1885

Erika Pérez ambitiously intervenes in colonial borderlands analyses and Chicana/o studies with her impressively researched Colonial Intimacies. For too long historians tended to treat these scholarly traditions as disconnected. Most narratives about Alta California focus on one or the other with an odd void in the mid-nineteenth century. Pérez joins a small group of scholars who are, instead, uncovering continuities from 1769, the start of Spain's aggressive missionizing efforts, to 1885, when U.S. railroads transformed the regional economy. She does this by eschewing the more typical reliance on violence or elites' machinations. Pérez offers an alternative narrative, framed around the theme of intimacy, which includes familial relationships, spiritual relationships, and sexual relationships. Colonial Intimacies thereby gives more weight to the difficult daily choices that indigenous and Spanish-speaking inhabitants made against shifting colonial pressures. Her two main touchstones are compadrazgo (godparenting) and “biethnic” (mixed-race) relationships. Traditions of godparenting, first introduced during missionaries' conversion efforts, became a durable strategy for community building. Individuals chosen as padrinos or mardinas became co-parents, with expectations of safeguarding their godchildren's welfare. These obligations created more expansive kinship networks, which provided stability in turbulent times. In California, though, racial hierarchies made these relationships asymmetrical. Native godchildren became bound to give their labor in exchange for the material and spiritual incentives they received. Pérez argues that, despite the severe inequities, mission Indians nonetheless adapted godparenting for their own goals, including upholding traditional female leadership roles. Those same practices persisted, eventually building connections between newly arriving Euro-American foreigners and established Mexican and native communities.