Women directors, board attendance, and corporate financial performance

Joecks, Jasmin; Pull, Kerstin; Scharfenkamp, Katrin

doi:10.1111/corg.12525

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 134 publications

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“…Accordingly, if there are three or more female board directors (or around 30% women) (Joecks et al, 2013), their contributions will be more meaningful. Otherwise, the contributions of one or two female directors may be ignored in a predominately male boardroom (Owen and Temesvary, 2018), and the organization's performance may be impeded by gender inequality (Joecks et al, 2023(Joecks et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female chairs on the boards of European National Sports Federations: a comparative study

Salvador

Fernandes

Cimbrini

et al. 2023

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Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of board size, board gender diversity and federation age on the likelihood of having a female chair in National Sports Federations (NSF). Design/methodology/approach A quantitative methodology compares 300 sports boards in five countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the UK), using data collected from NSF’s websites. Findings The board size and federation age have no significant impact on having a female board chair when the countries and the percentage of female directors are included in the model. When the number of women is measured in absolute value rather than in relative terms, the only variable that predicts a woman chair is the country. When the model does not include country differences, the percentage of female directors is key in predicting a chairwoman, and when the number of women is used as a variable instead of the percentage, a board’s smaller size increases the odds of having a chairwoman. Research limitations/implications There are some limitations to this study which we believe provide useful directions for future research. Firstly, the authors have not considered the role of gender typing in sports activities which explains the extent that women participate in specific sports (Sobal and Milgrim, 2019) and the related perception of such sports in society. The social representation of sports activities classified as masculine, feminine or gender-neutral can hypothetically influence women’s access to that specific federations’s leadership. The authors included the country factor only partially, as a control variable, as the social representation of sports usually goes beyond national boundaries. Practical implications This study has implications for sport policymakers and stakeholders, and for institutions such as the IOC or the European Union that implement equality policies. If the aim is to increase female presence in the highest position of a sports board and to achieve gender equality more generally, other policies need to be implemented alongside gender quotas for the sports boards, namely, those specifically related to the recruitment and selection of the sports board chairs (Mikkonen et al., 2021). For example, given the implications of critical mass and its ability to increase more female’s engagement then the role of existing chairs acting as mentors and taking initiative in this objective may be warranted. Furthermore, attention should be paid to the existing gender portfolio of each board and its subsequent influence on recruiting a female chair, regardless of the organization’s age. Knoppers et al. (2021) concluded that resistance to gender balance by board members is often related to discriminatory discourses against women. The normalization of the discourses of meritocracy, neoliberalism, silence/passivity about the responsibility of structures and an artificial defence of diversity emphasise that equality should not only be determined by women (Knoppers et al., 2021). Social implications When countries are included in the model, the results suggest that the social representation of a female board member is different from that of a female board chair. Originality/value The originality of the study is that it shows the factors that constrain women taking up a chair position on NSFs. Theoretically, it contributes to existing literature by demonstrating how a critical mass of females on boards may also extend to the higher and most powerful position of chair.

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Section: Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female chairs on the boards of European National Sports Federations: a comparative study

Salvador

Fernandes

Cimbrini

et al. 2023

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The Role of Board Composition and Board Attendance in Enhancing ESG Performance

Ihbal,

Ifada,

Suhendi

et al. 2024

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control

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Woman on board, corporate social responsibility and financial performance: new evidence from China

Long,

Bu,

Xie

et al. 2024

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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There are mixed findings on the impact of women directors on board (WOB) on corporate financial performance (CFP). To reconcile these mixed findings, we propose that WOB could influence CFP in the following two ways. On the one hand, WOB could enhance CFP by leading more CSR activities. On the other hand, WOB may weaken the CSR-CFP relationship due to expectations on their role-playing. These two effects go in opposite directions, and their relative strength determines the WOB-CFP relationship. Using Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2020 as samples, the results lend strong support to these two effects. And WOB will have a positive effect on CFP only if its moderating effect on the CSR-CFP relationship has been controlled for. Additional tests show that neither critical mass nor qualification of women directors matters in explaining variations of CFP in Chinese firms. The contributions and limitations are discussed at the end of this study.

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Women directors, board attendance, and corporate financial performance

Cited by 10 publications

References 134 publications

Female chairs on the boards of European National Sports Federations: a comparative study

Female chairs on the boards of European National Sports Federations: a comparative study

The Role of Board Composition and Board Attendance in Enhancing ESG Performance

Woman on board, corporate social responsibility and financial performance: new evidence from China

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