IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v55y2012i6p557-566.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Women on boards of directors: Why skirts in seats aren’t enough

Author

Listed:
  • Fitzsimmons, Stacey R.

Abstract

Most organizations focus their attention on simply achieving gender diversity on their boards. This approach misses the point. A complex relationship exists between board gender diversity and good governance whereby such diversity can have a negative, positive, or neutral impact on organizational performance, indicating that organizations may only reap the benefits of gender-diverse boards under proper conditions. This article examines which conditions allow gender-diverse boards to flourish and which conditions lead to failure. Organizations usually increase female representation on boards of directors to achieve one of two goals: gender parity or improved governance. Each of these goals is influenced by different circumstances and thus must be approached in a unique manner. Three recommendations are offered herein for organizations trying to achieve each goal. Gender, ethnic, and cultural board diversity all share related justifications and challenges, so organizations that follow the recommendations in this article will be well positioned to benefit from all three sources of increased diversity on their boards of directors.

Suggested Citation

  • Fitzsimmons, Stacey R., 2012. "Women on boards of directors: Why skirts in seats aren’t enough," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 557-566.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:55:y:2012:i:6:p:557-566
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2012.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000768131200095X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2012.07.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    2. Hamdani, Maria Riaz & Buckley, M. Ronald, 2011. "Diversity goals: Reframing the debate and enabling a fair evaluation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 33-40.
    3. Hamdani, Maria Riaz & Buckley, M. Ronald, 2011. "Diversity goals: Reframing the debate and enabling a fair evaluation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 33-40, January.
    4. Farrell, Kathleen A. & Hersch, Philip L., 2005. "Additions to corporate boards: the effect of gender," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 85-106, March.
    5. Günter K Stahl & Martha L Maznevski & Andreas Voigt & Karsten Jonsen, 2010. "Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A meta-analysis of research on multicultural work groups," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(4), pages 690-709, May.
    6. Dalton, Dan R. & Dalton, Catherine M., 2010. "Women and corporate boards of directors: The promise of increased, and substantive, participation in the post Sarbanes-Oxley era," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 257-268, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Víctor Alonso Baldrich Mora, 2019. "Mujeres en juntas directivas en Colombia y su efecto sobre el desempeno financiero de las empresas," Documentos CEDE 17140, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    2. Cristina Fenoy-Castaño & María J. Martínez-Romero & Rubén Martínez-Alonso, 2021. "Does the Female Presence in Corporate Governance Influence the Level of Indebtedness in Agri-Food Family Firms?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-17, November.
    3. repec:hal:journl:dumas-00934606 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Rohail Hassan & Maran Marimuthu, 2017. "Does Corporate Diversity Really Matter in the Plantation Sector? Empirical Evidence from a World Islamic Leading Country and Market Reaction," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-25, August.
    5. Valentina Marano & Steve Sauerwald & Marc Essen, 2022. "The influence of culture on the relationship between women directors and corporate social performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1315-1342, September.
    6. Wafa Hili & Habib Affes, 2013. "Diversite En Genre Dans Les Conseils D'Administration Et Persistance Des Benefices Comptables : Investigation Empirique Dans Le Contexte Franҫais," Post-Print hal-00991930, HAL.
    7. Nguyen, Tuan & Nguyen, An & Nguyen, Mau & Truong, Thuyen, 2021. "Is national governance quality a key moderator of the boardroom gender diversity–firm performance relationship? International evidence from a multi-hierarchical analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 370-390.
    8. Ana Beatriz Hernández-Lara & Juan Pablo Gonzales-Bustos & Amado Alarcón-Alarcón, 2021. "Social Sustainability on Corporate Boards: The Effects of Female Family Members on R&D," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    9. Adeel Mustafa & Abubakr Saeed & Muhammad Awais & Shahab Aziz, 2020. "Board-Gender Diversity, Family Ownership, and Dividend Announcement: Evidence from Asian Emerging Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Bello Lawal & Mohammed Nuhu, 2021. "Board Diversity or Tokenism: A Case for Social Inclusion and an Efficiency Model," Applied Finance and Accounting, Redfame publishing, vol. 7(1), pages 22-31, February.
    11. Mui, Rachel & Parker, Owen & Titus, Varkey, 2022. "Merit versus maleness: How strategic positioning can mitigate external gender bias," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 427-436.
    12. Romlah Jaffar & Nor Asyiqin Abu & Mohamat Sabri Hassan & Mohd Mohid Rahmat, 2023. "Value Relevance of Board Attributes: The Mediating Role of Key Audit Matter," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, February.
    13. Vincenzo Scafarto & Federica Ricci & Elisabetta Magnaghi & Salvatore Ferri, 2021. "Board structure and intellectual capital efficiency: does the family firm status matter?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 841-878, September.
    14. Isabelle Christine Oliveira dos Santos & Tereza Cristina Batista de Lima & Luis Eduardo Brandão Paiva & Davi Sampaio Marques & Elidihara Trigueiro Guimarães, 2021. "Professional Socialization from the Perspective of Female Surgeons: Challenges and Career Achievements," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 25(4), pages 180303-1803.
    15. Samara, Georges & Jamali, Dima & Lapeira, Maria, 2019. "Why and how should SHE make her way into the family business boardroom?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 105-115.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:hal:journl:dumas-00934606 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bello Lawal & Mohammed Nuhu, 2021. "Board Diversity or Tokenism: A Case for Social Inclusion and an Efficiency Model," Applied Finance and Accounting, Redfame publishing, vol. 7(1), pages 22-31, February.
    3. Sheila Ellwood & Javier Garcia-Lacalle, 2015. "The Influence of Presence and Position of Women on the Boards of Directors: The Case of NHS Foundation Trusts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 69-84, August.
    4. Owen, Ann L. & Temesvary, Judit, 2018. "The performance effects of gender diversity on bank boards," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 50-63.
    5. Charléty, Patricia & Romelli, Davide & Santacreu-Vasut, Estefania, 2017. "Appointments to central bank boards: Does gender matter?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 59-61.
    6. Sarkar, Jayati & Selarka, Ekta, 2021. "Women on board and performance of family firms: Evidence from India," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    7. Xing, Lu & Gonzalez, Angelica & Sila, Vathunyoo, 2021. "Does cooperation among women enhance or impede firm performance?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    8. Ishmael Tingbani & Lyton Chithambo & Venancio Tauringana & Nikolaos Papanikolaou, 2020. "Board gender diversity, environmental committee and greenhouse gas voluntary disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2194-2210, September.
    9. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    10. Arun Upadhyay, 2014. "Social Concentration on Boards, Corporate Information Environment and Cost of Capital," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7-8), pages 974-1001, September.
    11. Vincenzo Scafarto & Federica Ricci & Elisabetta Magnaghi & Salvatore Ferri, 2021. "Board structure and intellectual capital efficiency: does the family firm status matter?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 841-878, September.
    12. Quoc-Anh Do & Bang Dang Nguyen & Raghavendra- University Of Cambridge, Cambridge Judge Business School) Rau, 2013. "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice: What Are Good Directors Made of?," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/69eil0vrec8, Sciences Po.
    13. Angelo A. Unite & Michael J. Sullivan & Ailyn A. Shi, 2019. "Board Diversity and Performance of Philippine Firms: Do Women Matter?," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 25(1), pages 65-78, February.
    14. Jose Apesteguia & Ghazala Azmat & Nagore Iriberri, 2012. "The Impact of Gender Composition on Team Performance and Decision Making: Evidence from the Field," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 78-93, January.
    15. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    16. Catarina Fernandes & Jorge Farinha & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Cesario Mateus, 2017. "Supervisory boards, financial crisis and bank performance: do board characteristics matter?," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 310-337, November.
    17. Anne Marie Ward & John Forker, 2017. "Financial Management Effectiveness and Board Gender Diversity in Member-Governed, Community Financial Institutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 351-366, March.
    18. Bernile, Gennaro & Bhagwat, Vineet & Yonker, Scott, 2018. "Board diversity, firm risk, and corporate policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(3), pages 588-612.
    19. Luca Flabbi & Mario Macis & Andrea Moro & Fabiano Schivardi, 2019. "Do Female Executives Make a Difference? The Impact of Female Leadership on Gender Gaps and Firm Performance," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(622), pages 2390-2423.
    20. Shaista Wasiuzzaman & Vasanthan Subramaniam, 2023. "Board gender diversity and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure: Is it different for developed and developing nations?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2145-2165, September.
    21. Rey Dang & Anne Françoise Bender & Marie José Scotto, 2014. "Women on French Corporate Board of Directors: How Do They Differ from their Male Counterparts?," Working Papers 2014-54, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:55:y:2012:i:6:p:557-566. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.