Women Board Members Research Articles

Emergency Medicine Journal Editorial Boards: Analysis of Gender, H-Index, Publications, Academic Rank, and Leadership Roles.

IntroductionOur goal in this study was to determine female representation on editorial boards of high-ranking emergency medicine (EM) journals. In addition, we examined factors associated with gender disparity, including board members’ academic rank, departmental leadership position, h-index, total publications, total citations, and total publishing years.MethodsIn this retrospective study, we examined EM editorial boards with an impact factor of 1 or greater according to the Clarivate Journal Citations Report for a total of 16 journals. All board members with a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, or international equivalent were included, resulting in 781 included board members. We analyzed board members’ gender, academic rank, departmental leadership position, h-index, total publications, total citations, and total publishing years.ResultsGender disparity was clearly notable, with men holding 87.3% (682/781) of physician editorial board positions and women holding 12.7% (99/781) of positions. Only 6.6% (1/15) of included editorial board chiefs were women. Male editorial board members possessed higher h-indices, total citations, and more publishing years than their female counterparts. Male board members held a greater number of departmental leadership positions, as well as higher academic ranks.ConclusionSignificant gender disparity exists on EM editorial boards. Substantial inequalities between men and women board members exist in both the academic and departmental realms. Addressing these inequalities will likely be an integral part of achieving gender parity on editorial boards.

Does board gender diversity matter in the banking sector? Evidence from Tunisia

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of board gender diversity on banks’ performance and risk for the case of a developing African country. Our sample includes a unique data set of Tunisian banks during the period 2005–2018. We use the two‐way cluster regression proposed by Petersen. This approach corrects for the unobserved firm effect (time‐series dependence) and time effect (cross‐sectional dependence). It gives robust standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity, serial correlation, and cross‐sectional correlation. Our results support a positive relationship between gender diversity and banks’ performance measured by ROA and ROE, while women board members are associated with more default risk measured by Z‐score. Our results remain robust to various measures of gender diversity, banks’ performance and risk. The findings contribute to the literature by providing empirical evidence from Tunisia, an African emerging economy, where the examination of the role of board gender diversity on bank governance is unexplored.

The impact of gender quotas in sport management: the case of Spain

This article investigates the impact of gender quotas on sport management by analyzing the gender quota established in 2014 in Spain on boards of national sport federations (of at least three women or 33% of board members). Drawing on published and on-line documents and eighty-six interviews of female and male federation board members, I find that the Spanish gender quota increased the proportion of women board members (but not the proportion of women federation presidents). Economic sanctions for non-compliance made the quota effective. The quota had the effect within federations of making gender inequality more visible. Thus, this research concludes that gender quotas have substantial consequences for sport management other than the numerical increment of women managers.

When Tokens Matter: A Critical Perspective on Tokenism and Women on Corporate Boards

This essay critiques the existing understanding of the concepts of tokens and tokenism within the particular context of women on corporate boards. We argue that existing tokenism scholarship adopts a reductive logic that equates tokens with tokenism and assumes numerical underrepresentation of women as an implied signal of lack of power, thereby failing to fully reflect the latent power of tokens as potential agents of both personal and inter-group change. Integrating perspectives from socio-psychological theories namely, social categorization, social identity and social integration, we argue that, after appointment, the effectiveness of a woman token’s station on a corporate board ought to be qualitatively evaluated in terms of her social categorization and the extent of her social identification with the non-dominant gender group, and her ex post facto social integration into dominant peer group. We propose a layered token theory defining four categories of tokens, (1) the marginalized token; (2) the passive token; (3) the queen bee token; and (4) the changemaker token. These theorized categories capture how women board members differentially navigate group dynamics within the collective, once a board position is taken up consequently affecting tokenism on corporate boards. Our essay has relevance for gender discourse and management research.

Antecedentes contextuales de la participación Femenina en juntas directivas: el caso de Colombia

Este artículo tiene el objetivo de identificar y analizar las tendencias de participación femenina en juntas directivas en Colombia. Se argumenta que el isomorfismo institucional influencia la dinámica del nombramiento de mujeres directoras en contextos en los que no existe una normatividad que la promueva. De esta forma, las prácticas de las organizaciones más visibles en contextos específicos influencian estos nombramientos en otras organizaciones en dichos contextos. El estudio utiliza información reportada por empresas colombianas para el periodo 2000-2009. Los resultados muestran una tendencia creciente, aunque lenta, en el nombramiento de mujeres directoras, lo cual se explica por la existencia de factores contextuales. El nombramiento de mujeres directoras en empresas del Gobierno y en las empresas dominantes por industria tiene un efecto positivo sobre el nombramiento de mujeres en otras empresas; por su parte, el nombramiento de mujeres directoras en las empresas más longevas es muy bajo y se relaciona de forma negativa con estos nombramientos en las demás empresas.

Effects of Corporate Governance and Earning Quality on Listed Vietnamese Firm Value

The paper examines the influence of corporate governance (CG) and earning quality (EQ) on corporate value (FV) of Vietnamese enterprises. The study uses GLS regression and linear structure model using data collected from companies listing on the stock market in Vietnam during 2008-2018, with a total of 2,937 observations. The research results indicate that EQ and CG represented by the Integrated Board of Directors and the Integrated Supervisory Board have a positive effect on FV directly and indirectly. The results show that the Integrated Board of Directors has a positive effect on EQ, whereas the Integrated Supervisory Board has a negative effect on EQ. Based on the research results, we suggest that companies need to strictly comply and implement GC, so to bring down the agency cost and consequently to increase performance. The companies also should establish the Board of Director of a proper size, with financial and accounting specialty, and including women board members. The government also needs to improve the management mechanism asking for firms to prepare and publish financial statements with reliable company information, which could be provided to users. These recommendations are a useful basis to help businesses improve FV via changes in the corporate governance factors in each enterprise.

Role of gender and corporate risk taking

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the role of chief financial officers’ (CFOs’) gender in financial risk taking of 58 US companies along with the impact of having women board members.Design/methodology/approachUsing a panel data of 58 selected S&P 500 companies during the period 2012-2016, this paper determines whether the gender of CFOs and having women board members play a role in risk-taking behavior of firms.FindingsFirms led by female CFOs are smaller in size with lower net income and net revenue. The panel data analysis shows that the impact of female CFOs on firms’ financial risk is mixed, depending on risk measures used, whereas increasing female board members reduces that risk.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used is limited to 58 S&P 500 companies, and two of the three risk-taking measures used in the study, specifically investment in property, plant and equipment (PPE) and debt/equity ratio, may not be applicable to some industries.Practical implicationsThe findings provide mixed evidence of risk aversion by females in executive and leadership positions, depending on the measures used and the management responsibilities they undertake (CFO versus board member) with support for the glass cliff phenomenon in which females may be leading financially precarious organizations.Social implicationsFemale CFOs are found to be leading relatively smaller and financially poor-performing firms compared with the male CFO-led firms, thereby giving support to the glass cliff arguments.Originality/valueThe paper examines the role of CFOs’ gender and board diversity in risk taking as measured by the investment in PPE, debt/equity ratio and stock return volatility.

Do Women Matter in Monetary Policy Boards?

We construct a new dataset on the presence of women on central bank monetary policy committees for a set of 103 countries, over the period 2002-2016. We document an increasing share of women in monetary policy committees, which is mainly associ- ated with a higher overall presence of women in central banks and less so with other institutional factors or country characteristics. We then investigate the impact of this trend on monetary policymaking by estimating Taylor rules augmented to include the share of women on monetary policy committees. We show that central bank boards with a higher proportion of women set higher interest rates for the same level of in- flation. This suggests that women board members have a more hawkish approach to monetary policy. We confirm this result by analysing the voting behaviour of members of the executive board of the Swedish Central Bank during the period 2000-2017.

Women directors and firm performance: Malaysian evidence post policy announcement

PurposeIn 2011, the Malaysian cabinet approved the policy that all board of directors of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia should consist of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions by the year 2016. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the presence of women on the board and firms’ performance following the introduction of the diversity policy.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis uses the information of the top 200 Malaysian public listed companies for the financial year 2011–2013. The multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between the firm performance (return on assets (ROA)) as the dependent variable and the independent variables.FindingsThe results show that during the period under study, the proportion of women directors on board is negatively correlated with ROA. This indicates that the firm performance may not be dependent on the number of women directors on board. However, the results of the study also show that the academic backgrounds of the women board members add some value toward generating better firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsA small sample size of only the top 200 public listed companies was utilised. Consequently the outcome may not be generalisable to smaller public companies or private firms. Another limitation is regarding the sample period. Taking only one year before and one year after the policy’s approval may be too short of the period under study and may be too early to study the impact of the policy. Future studies could sample a longer period.Practical implicationsThe findings encourage public listed companies to appoint women with the necessary qualities as members of the board and not to simply increase the number of women on boards.Originality/valueThere is a lack of work on studying women’s effectiveness on board in developing countries, whereby previous work and literature review were predominantly based upon the experience of Western economies. This study, thus, contributes to the rising literature on women board member representation based on the firm performance of the top 200 listed companies in Malaysia.

The Role of Female Directors in the Boardroom: Examining Their Impact on Competitive Dynamics

This study contributes simultaneously to research on women board members and competitive dynamics by investigating two unresolved research questions: What is the effect of female directors on the firm’s competitive repertoire? Under what conditions is this effect more pronounced? Leveraging the “Awareness-Motivation-Capability” (AMC) framework, we predict that having women on the board of directors should impact the complexity, heterogeneity, and volume of the firm’s competitive moves. Relying upon a sample of U.S. pharmaceutical firms for the years 2000 to 2017, we find that adding female directors on the board positively affects the complexity and volume of a firm’s competitive moves, but negatively impacts the heterogeneity of competitive actions. In addition, the presence of a female CEO moderates these effects, leading to more complex competitive actions and increased volume. Thus, our study lends a greater understanding of how female board members influence competitive dynamics and shape the strategic direction of the firm.

Sustainability Reporting and Board Diversity in Malaysia

Board diversity is believed to enhance companies’ strategies and decision-making process which lead to companies’ sustainability in business. This study focuses on the gender, age and ethnic diversity and the objective is to examine the impact of these board diversity elements on the extent and quality of sustainability reporting (SR) among the top 100 Malaysian listed companies. Data is collected from the annual reports of the sampled companies for the year-end on and after 31 December 2016. The data then was analyzed through content analysis method and independent t-test to accomplish the objective. This study found that the average proportion of women directors out of the total number of board members is 17% and the average age of the board members is 61 years old, which is above the minimum retirement age. In addition, it was also found that having women board members has a significant impact on a company’s SR but none on the aspects of age and ethnic diversity. Women directors have a different way of perception, thinking, and ideas that could influence companies’ sustainability initiative and reporting. The study contributes to the literature on corporate governance–sustainability by focusing specifically on the impact of board diversity on SR.

Do Women Matter in Monetary Policymaking?

We construct a new dataset on the presence of women on central bank monetary policy committees for a set of 103 countries, over the period 2002-2016. We document an increasing share of women in monetary policy committees, which is mainly associated with a higher overall presence of women in central banks and less so with other institutional factors or country characteristics. We then investigate the impact of this trend on monetary policymaking by estimating Taylor rules augmented to include the share of women on monetary policy committees. We show that central bank boards with a higher proportion of women set higher interest rates for the same level of inflation. This suggests that women board members have a more hawkish approach to monetary policy. We confirm this result by analysing the voting behaviour of members of the executive board of the Swedish Central Bank during the period 2000-2017.

Exploring the “Black Box” of Gender Diversity on Boards: The Value of Women’s Expertise

Increasing women’s access to jobs and equal pay bolsters economic stability, life-expectancy, and improves the lives of future generations (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2017). However, re...

The Role of Social Capital in the Relationship between Human Capital and Career Success: A Research on Women Manager

Human capital is a continuously increasing concept that covers all of the following elements: experience, ability, knowledge, and ability. Social capital theory emphasizes that the network connections of women managers, their relationships and trust are important. The relationship between social capital and human capital is important. In this context, it is aimed to emphasize the relationship between human capital and career success and the role of social capital in this particular sample on this study. Independent women's board members who are active in the boards of the companies that are actively traded in Borsa İstanbul A.Ş. have been determined and the relationships, bonds and contacts that each woman board member has with secondary data collection method have been determined and network between human capital and career success have been revealed.

Female corporate leadership in Latin America and the Caribbean region

PurposeDespite gender parity in the general working population, the higher up one looks in ranks within the firm the fewer women one finds. This under-representation of women in top positions at firms is purportedly even more acute in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). LAC is a large and increasingly important region of the world where women are well-represented in the workforce and are comparatively better educated than men. Documenting if this resource is utilized at full potential is therefore of crucial importance. The purpose of this paper is to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region, as no systematic study exists on this topic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect an original database of publicly listed companies to determine prevailing gender ratios among board members and executives in LAC region. The authors then estimate whether companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives. Finally, the authors estimate whether measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance.FindingsThe authors find that women are as under-represented in LAC as in the USA, but much less so in the Caribbean. The authors find that companies with women board members are more likely to appoint women executives in LAC. The authors find that measures of female leadership at the firm are correlated with company performance but only regarding board membership and only when the proportion of women on the board is greater than 30 percent. Again composition effects are important. Overall, the authors conclude that the LAC region exhibits empirical regularities about under-representation of women in leadership positions at the firm that are very similar to those found for high-income countries in Europe and North America.Originality/valueThe authors are the first and so far unique systematic study exists able to document the level and impact of female representation at the executive level in the region.

Female representation in the boardroom and firm debt: empirical evidence from Italy

Using a panel dataset of non-financial public companies in Italy covering the period 2005–2013, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between female representation on corporate boards and corporate debt. The presence of women in the boardroom might seem to push significantly on debt leverage and suggest a complementary role in the control and monitoring of agency costs. However, consistent with Kanter’s (Am J Sociol 82(5), 965–990, 1977) critical mass theory, that at a level of tokenism women take on a complementary role and at greater levels, their role either becomes a substitute for debt level, or plays a weaker complementary role in debt level and in the monitoring of agency costs. The presence of women board members who are linked to the family firm appears to significantly decrease the degree of debt leverage. Furthermore, the presence of greater female representation in the boardroom decreases the agency costs to the firm.

Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance

AbstractIn this study, we investigate the impact women leaders have on the corporate environmental strategies of organizations. Using a dataset of all Fortune 500 CEOs and boards of directors for a ten‐year period, we examine several aspects of gender in leadership on environmental strategy. Specifically, we test the impact of women CEOs, the proportion of women on the BOD, the number of interlinks women board members hold, and the interactive and cumulative effects of women CEOs and gender diverse boards. Findings suggest that firms characterized by gender diverse leadership teams are more effective than other firms at pursuing environmentally friendly strategies. This study contributes to research on corporate governance and environmental performance by showing how the gender composition of leaders affects corporate practice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Investigating the relationship between corporate governance and banks’ financial performance: Egypt case

In the last few decades, policy makers around the world have focused on corporate governance reform since the Asian financial crisis and scandals in the United States such as the Enron debacle. In addition, there is no doubt that banks have significant position in the welfare of any economy. Corporate governance involves in how banks’ businesses and affairs are governed by its board of directors that raises a fundamental question of how this could affect banks’ financial performance. The focus of this research is to investigate the relationships between some of the corporate governance variables that are related to the board of directors on the financial performance of these banks working in the Egyptian market. Thirteen banks that are listed in the Egyptian Stock Exchange were selected with data collected for the period from 2011 till 2013 which is the post Egyptian revolution era. Research analyses adopted in this study are descriptive, correlation and regression analyses to test the research hypotheses. Findings of this research provide evidence that some of these variables such as board independence, foreign board members ratio, women board members ratio and board educational ratio have significant effect on the financial performance of these banks; however, board size and CEO qualities do not have any significant effect on banks’ performance. The research reaches some implications that are important to different stakeholders on practical and academic levels.

Firm Performance and Women on the Board: Evidence from Spanish Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

ABSTRACTThis study examines gender diversity on boards of directors in a sample of nonfinancial Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for 2003–8, finding that the probability of women on the board increases with firm performance, defined as return on assets, and family ownership, but diminishes with corporate ownership and firm risk. It also finds, when examining the full sample, a positive effect of the presence of women board members on firm performance. The study also obtains a similar positive effect in most subsamples, including in firms with corporate ownership, where family connections play less role in the election of board members, and in firms in the secondary and tertiary sectors, which are characterized by having greater proximity to final consumers than those in the primary sector.

Women On French Corporate Board Of Directors: How Do They Differ From Their Male Counterparts?

Our research aims at exploring individuals characteristics of women on Boards in the French context. In the first part of our paper, we discuss the different theoretical frameworks which supported the business case of gender diversity on Boards of Directors and expose our hypothesis regarding differences in women and men characteristics. The second part presents our methods, measurements and data. Then, we focus on our empirical study. Our sample consists of the French Index SBF 120 companies. We studied the profile of 1,250 directors collecting information from the firms annual reports of year 2010, using various scales defined by previous research on that field in the AngloSaxon literature. Our findings confirm that integrating women on boards has an impact on the Human and Social Capital of Boards but not as much as might have been expected. It is worth noting that men and women board members seem to build their human and social capital through the same educational process in France. Nonetheless, our work shows significant differences between men and women regarding professional experience and board member status.