IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v156y2019i4d10.1007_s10551-017-3640-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Female Executives and Perceived Employer Attractiveness: On the Potentially Adverse Signal of Having a Female CHRO Rather Than a Female CFO

Author

Listed:
  • Anja Iseke

    (Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe)

  • Kerstin Pull

    (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)

Abstract

We investigate whether female executives influence perceived employer attractiveness for female job seekers. Drawing on signaling theory, we argue that female members in top management may signal organizational justice and organizational support and may therefore enhance perceived employer attractiveness. Findings from a scenario experiment with 357 participants indicate that female job seekers are more attracted to an organization with a female executive holding a non-stereotypical office [such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO)] as compared to an organization with an all-male top management. Results of a structural equation model show that perceived organizational justice mediates the positive effect of a female holding a non-stereotypical office (CFO) on perceived employer attractiveness, but perceived organizational support does not. Our results challenge the widely held view that women in top management will generally help attract female job seekers; rather, they suggest that a single female executive holding a stereotypical female office (such as Chief Human Resources Officer) even reduces perceived employer attractiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Anja Iseke & Kerstin Pull, 2019. "Female Executives and Perceived Employer Attractiveness: On the Potentially Adverse Signal of Having a Female CHRO Rather Than a Female CFO," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 1113-1133, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:156:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-017-3640-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-017-3640-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-017-3640-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-017-3640-1?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. John Antonakis & Samuel Bendahan & Philippe Jacquart & Rafael Lalive, 2010. "On making causal claims : A review and recommendations," Post-Print hal-02313119, HAL.
    2. Ioanna Boulouta, 2013. "Hidden Connections: The Link Between Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 185-197, March.
    3. Elke Holst & Anja Kirsch, 2016. "Corporate Boards of Large Companies: More Momentum Needed for Gender Parity," DIW Economic Bulletin, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 6(3), pages 13-25.
    4. Jasmin Joecks & Kerstin Pull & Karin Vetter, 2013. "Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Performance: What Exactly Constitutes a “Critical Mass?”," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 61-72, November.
    5. Kay, Rosemarie, 2007. "Auf dem Weg in die Chefetage: Betriebliche Entscheidungsprozesse bei der Besetzung von Führungspositionen," IfM-Materialien 170, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    6. Anne-Marie Van Prooijen & Naomi Ellemers, 2015. "Does it pay to be moral? How indicators of morality and competence enhance organizational and work team attractiveness," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/205516, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Baum, Matthias & Sterzing, Anke & Alaca, Neslim, 2016. "Reactions towards diversity recruitment and the moderating influence of the recruiting firms' country-of-origin," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4140-4149.
    8. Elke Holst & Anja Kirsch, 2016. "Finanzsektor: Frauenanteile in Spitzengremien nehmen etwas zu – Männer geben den Ton an," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 83(2), pages 46-59.
    9. Astrid Reichel & Julia Brandl & Wolfgang Mayrhofer, 2010. "The Strongest Link: Legitimacy of Top Management Diversity, Sex Stereotypes and the Rise of Women in Human Resource Management 1995 – 2004," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 21(3), pages 332-352.
    10. Beckman, Christine M. & Burton, M. Diane & O'Reilly, Charles, 2007. "Early teams: The impact of team demography on VC financing and going public," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 147-173, March.
    11. Kang, Eugene & Ding, David K. & Charoenwong, Charlie, 2010. "Investor reaction to women directors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 888-894, August.
    12. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Simone N. Tuor, 2010. "Avoiding Labor Shortages by Employer Signaling: On the Importance of Good Work Climate and Labor Relations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 271-286, January.
    13. Francine Blau & Patricia Simpson & Deborah Anderson, 1998. "Continuing Progress? Trends in Occupational Segregation in the United States over the 1970s and 1980s," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 29-71.
    14. Petersen, Trond & Togstad, Thea, 2006. "Getting the Offer: Sex Discrimation in Hiring," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt1rt913mg, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    15. Silke Eisenbeiss & Daan Knippenberg & Clemens Fahrbach, 2015. "Doing Well by Doing Good? Analyzing the Relationship Between CEO Ethical Leadership and Firm Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 635-651, May.
    16. Peggy M. Lee & Erika Hayes James, 2007. "She'‐e‐os: gender effects and investor reactions to the announcements of top executive appointments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 227-241, March.
    17. Stephen Bear & Noushi Rahman & Corinne Post, 2010. "The Impact of Board Diversity and Gender Composition on Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 207-221, December.
    18. Andranik Tumasjan & Maria Strobel & Isabell Welpe, 2011. "Ethical Leadership Evaluations After Moral Transgression: Social Distance Makes the Difference," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(4), pages 609-622, April.
    19. Astrid Reichel & Julia Brandl & Wolfgang Mayrhofer, 2010. "The Strongest Link: Legitimacy of Top Management Diversity, Sex Stereotypes and the Rise of Women in Human Resource Management 1995 – 2004," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 21(3), pages 332-352.
    20. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    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. Jose Benitez & Laura Ruiz & Ana Castillo & Javier Llorens, 2020. "How corporate social responsibility activities influence employer reputation: The role of social media capability," Post-Print hal-02462583, HAL.
    2. Sara Saggese & Fabrizia Sarto & Riccardo Viganò, 2021. "Do women directors contribute to R&D? The role of critical mass and expert power," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 593-623, June.

    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. Amanpreet Kaur & Balwinder Singh, 2017. "Construing Reputation from Gender Diversity on Boards," Paradigm, , vol. 21(2), pages 111-125, December.
    2. Hinrichsen, Anna & Schiereck, Dirk & von Ahsen, Anette, 2018. "Gender Diversity Issues Within the Company and Beyond: Perceptions of Investor Relations Professionals in German-Speaking Europe," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 72(2), pages 109-125.
    3. Jie Huang & Marjo-Riitta Diehl & Sandra Paterlini, 2020. "The Influence of Corporate Elites on Women on Supervisory Boards: Female Directors’ Inclusion in Germany," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 347-364, August.
    4. Kara, Alper & Nanteza, Aziidah & Ozkan, Aydin & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2022. "Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Atif, Muhammad & Hossain, Mohammed & Alam, Md Samsul & Goergen, Marc, 2021. "Does board gender diversity affect renewable energy consumption?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Kent Baker, H. & Pandey, Nitesh & Kumar, Satish & Haldar, Arunima, 2020. "A bibliometric analysis of board diversity: Current status, development, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 232-246.
    7. Katia Furlotti & Tatiana Mazza & Veronica Tibiletti & Silvia Triani, 2019. "Women in top positions on boards of directors: Gender policies disclosed in Italian sustainability reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 57-70, January.
    8. Giuliana Birindelli & Stefano Dell’Atti & Antonia Patrizia Iannuzzi & Marco Savioli, 2018. "Composition and Activity of the Board of Directors: Impact on ESG Performance in the Banking System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Youngsang Kim & Sophia Soyoung Jeong & Daphne W. Yiu & Jinhee Moon, 2021. "Frequent CEO Turnover and Firm Performance: The Resilience Effect of Workforce Diversity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 185-203, September.
    10. Schmid, Stefan & Dauth, Tobias, 2014. "Does internationalization make a difference? Stock market reaction to announcements of international top executive appointments," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 63-77.
    11. Jannik Gerwanski & Othar Kordsachia & Patrick Velte, 2019. "Determinants of materiality disclosure quality in integrated reporting: Empirical evidence from an international setting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 750-770, July.
    12. Jing Lu & Irene M. Herremans, 2019. "Board gender diversity and environmental performance: An industries perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 1449-1464, November.
    13. Francesco Gangi & Lucia Michela Daniele & Nicola Varrone & Francesca Vicentini & Maria Coscia, 2021. "Equity mutual funds' interest in the environmental, social and governance policies of target firms: Does gender diversity in management teams matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1018-1031, May.
    14. Martin Bugeja & Zoltan Matolcsy & Helen Spiropoulos, 2016. "The Association Between Gender-Diverse Compensation Committees and CEO Compensation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 375-390, December.
    15. Andreas Seebeck & Julia Vetter, 2022. "Not Just a Gender Numbers Game: How Board Gender Diversity Affects Corporate Risk Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 395-420, May.
    16. Hannu Schadewitz & Jonas Spohr, 2022. "Gender diverse boards and goodwill changes: association between accounting conservatism, gender and governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(3), pages 757-779, September.
    17. Bayly, Nicholas & Breunig, Robert & Wokker, Chris, 2023. "Female Board Representation and Corporate Performance: A Review and New Estimates for Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 16617, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Lu, Yun & Ntim, Collins G. & Zhang, Qingjing & Li, Pingli, 2022. "Board of directors’ attributes and corporate outcomes: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    19. Yan Ling & Michelle Hammond & Li-Qun Wei, 2022. "Ethical leadership and ambidexterity in young firms: examining the CEO-TMT Interface," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 25-48, March.
    20. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    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:kap:jbuset:v:156:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-017-3640-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.