Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating role of board effectiveness (understood as the capacity to efficiently manage and control all functions to guarantee the company’s prosperity) in the relationship between board diversity and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use partial least squares methodology to test the direct and indirect relationships between gender diversity in boards of directors and business performance. Findings Although the relationship between the presence of women on the board and the board’s effectiveness is statistically significant, this relationship is negative. However, board effectiveness (measured by the three constructs: strategic control, organizational innovation and decision-making) has a positive and statistically significant effect on business performance. Finally, there is a positive, but not statistically significant, relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. Research limitations/implications The study has a small sample size, and most of the boards of directors analyzed are unequal with only a few companies achieving gender parity. Social implications Public institutions must promote actions to achieve a critical mass of women directors and managers, so that women transcend a merely “symbolic” role on a board and are able to develop their skills and characteristics, thereby improving a board’s effectiveness and business performance. Originality/value This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the diversity and governance literature by providing a better understanding of the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance. It considers the influence of women on the board through a holistic framework, analyzing the mediating role of the board’s effectiveness.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on the participation of women on Boards of Directors (BD). Design/methodology/approach – The authors review a body of literature (theoretical and empirical words) that analyzes the women’s role on the BD of companies. The review allows the authors to bring together the theoretical foundations and the empirical findings of studies that have examined the influence of the engagement of women on BD on the business outcomes of the firms involved. Findings – There is no agreement on the results relating to the effect of the presence of women on these boards. Moreover, there is no well-defined theoretical basis to explain this relationship, making it necessary to use a multi-theoretical approach. Research limitations/implications – This study could be extended by including investigations of the intermediate variable between the composition of the BD and the business outcomes, thus enabling an analysis of the effects of different organizational variables on the economic and financial variables already studied. In addition, the authors propose a comparative study between different countries and between different kinds of companies. Originality/value – This paper highlights the controversy that exists over the significance of the involvement of women on the BD of companies. It also proposes the development of new lines of research to attempt to answer some of the questions that are raised by the diverse findings reported in the literature.

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