The Role of Cultural Orientation in Enhancing Women Board Membership and Improving the Earnings Quality: An International Perspective

This paper aims to analyze the impact of cultural diversity, as measured by Hofstede's six cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence), on women's board participation and earnings quality. The study employs a quantitative approach, comparing national cultural values, women's participation rates, and earnings quality across a sample of 200 companies from 20 countries worldwide. According to our findings, the cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism, and indulgence have a positive impact on the percentage of female directors on boards. In contrast, the dimensions of masculinity and long-term orientation have a negative impact. On the other hand, gender diversity on the board is unaffected by the uncertainty avoidance dimension. As a result, businesses situated in cultures with high power distance, individualism, and indulgence are more likely to nominate women to their boards than businesses situated in cultures that are more masculine and long-term focused. There are several reasons for our findings. The result demonstrates that culture can mitigate management misdeeds. Policymakers in a conservative society may need to pay more attention to cultural factors. Policymakers can take advantage of the study findings to develop reform initiatives that will broaden the representation of women in corporate boards, thereby addressing traditionalist cultural values in exclusive corporate governance practices. Investors can utilize the results for diversification and protection of their investment portfolios based on national culture.