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Under resource dependence theory, firms should benefit from diverse boards of directors. Ethical arguments also highlight that boards should be as diverse as the stakeholders and communities that they serve. In an attempt to increase diversity and women’s presence on boards of directors, legislative efforts have enacted gender quotas. We examine ho...
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... Prior research has suggested that women directors have different views than their male counterparts (Rixom et al., 2023). Moreover, due to social expectations, they possess caring and communal attributes and greater sensitivities toward sustainability (Rodríguez-Ariza et al., 2017). ...
This paper investigates whether the marital status of women directors predicts firm environmental performance in family and non-family businesses. We argue that rather than simply reflecting gender juxtaposition, the marital status of female directors can explain heterogeneity in firms’ environmental performances by triggering gender role attributions that lead to women board members enhancing their firms’ contributions to environmental sustainability. Building on social role theory and the socioemotional wealth perspective, we advance that gender role attributions unfold differently in family versus non-family firms. Leveraging a dataset of Italian-listed companies from 2003 to 2019, we find that the greater presence of married female directors enhances environmental performance. However, while this result holds more strongly for non-family firms, a positive contribution of married female directors only manifests in family businesses when they belong to the controlling family. This paper advances the discussion of women’s participation on corporate boards in family firms and firms’ contributions to addressing environmental issues by shedding light on the individual traits and firm characteristics that shape social expectations and women’s behavior on boards.
... It also enhances reputation and brand image, attracting top talent and customers. When it comes to corporate matters, women are a bit more careful and risk-averse, more confident, ethical, and concerned about their reputation (Dobija, Hryckiewicz, Zaman, & Puławska, 2021;Galletta, Mazzù, Naciti, & Vermiglio, 2022;Rixom, Jackson, & Rixom, 2023;Zampone et al., 2024). These attributes have the potential to enhance the efficacy of female directors in terms of overseeing and evaluating the financial, social, and environmental sustainability performance. ...
Incorporation of SDG 5 (Representation of women) on the board of directors is beneficial for corporation`s long-term value creation and sustainable expansion. This study examines how the inclusion of SDG 5 on the board affects sustainability (financial, social, and environmental). This study tries to define SDG 5's role and its implications for sustainability performance. This study is based on three theories: the Triple Bottom Line, which says that businesses should prioritize profit, the planet, and people; the agency theory, which says that directors should align stakeholders' interests with sustainability practices; and the gender socialization theory, which supports a gender difference perspective. The research sample consists of 8 years data span from 87 Industrial firms with Pakistan Stock Exchange listings. The study used dynamic GMM analysis for estimations. The results demonstrate that the presence of more women on boards of directors improves the sustainability of the social and environmental spheres, whereas having more women on the board of directors makes the company's finances less sustainable. According to this study, SDG 5 should encourage diversity and inclusion on the board of manufacturing organizations. These companies should also focus on sustainable growth and merit-based board member hiring. Additionally, this research has positive implications for regulators and policymakers who support sustainable organizations.
... Nevertheless, the contentious issue at hand is the efficacy of gender quotas, which demands further comprehensive investigation. On the positive side, they can enhance board gender diversity, granting access to a more extensive knowledge pool, diverse work experiences, and broader social networks compared with all-men boards (Rixom, Jackson, and Rixom 2023). Poletti-Hughes and Dimungu-Hewage (2023) find that compulsory quotas are more effective than comply or explain measures in boosting the appointment of independent female directors and can engender horizontal spill-over effects on firms not legally bounded by the quota law (Bongiovanni et al. 2023). ...
Using the 2022 European Union (EU) “women on boards” directive as a backdrop, we examine its wealth impact on firms in reference to their sustainability scores. Our analysis shows that investors respond positively to the EU gender quota, with a stronger effect on firms with low ESG scores. Particularly, we find that the abnormal returns on the announcement day are 0.5% higher on average for firms with weaker ESG performance, suggesting they have more to gain from the EU quota regulation. Our results reveal also that investors' expectations about the impact of the EU gender quota on ESG performance and firm value vary with differences in the institutional context across European countries. We observe more positive response in countries with strong regulatory environment characterized by high regulatory quality and strong legal enforcement and also in countries aligned with gender equality and sustainability values.
... Furthermore, research shows that investors value companies with diverse boards (Alshabibi, 2022;Burke, 2003;Gow et al., 2023;Groening, 2019;Mohan & Chen, 2004;Redor, 2018; J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Rixom et al., 2023). Since IPO owners have more information than other market players about their company's possible growth and prosperity in the future (Jamaani & Ahmed, 2022;, gender diversity among the management board may be a powerful tool for conveying that potential to investors (Handa & Singh, 2015). ...
This paper fills a gap in the gender diversity and initial public offering (IPO) withdrawal literature by examining how female directors on boards of management at the time of offering, affect withdrawal risk. The study employs a global dataset encompassing 33,535 withdrawn and completed IPOs between January 1995 and December 2019 in 22 diverse country settings with varying economic developments, legal systems, and cultural values. We utilize a cross-sectional probit estimate approach. We identified compelling evidence that a 10% increase in women's presence on boards reduced worldwide IPO withdrawals by up to 49%. Engaging female directors before an IPO provides IPO founders with a corporate governance signalling technique that reduces information asymmetry across IPO participants, minimizing the risk of IPO withdrawal. To the best of the scientific community's understanding, this is the first time that solid proof of a significant reverse relationship between the presence of female directors and withdrawal risk for IPO enterprises has been uncovered. Our findings, which demonstrate the critical importance of promoting gender diversity in IPO businesses, may be useful to those organizations that regulate the primary market. In the IPO market, female directors indeed help reduce the risk of withdrawal, which may promote local private equity owners to float their enterprises on the primary market, thereby enhancing economic growth.
... Prior studies suggest that the inclusion of women in the leadership team enhances corporate governance (e.g., Adams & Ferreira, 2009;Bear et al., 2010;Cumming et al., 2015;Gul et al., 2011;Qin et al., 2024;Radu & Smaili, 2022;Usman et al., 2022), improves firm performance (e.g., Campbell & Mínguez-Vera, 2008;Havrylyshyn et al., 2023;Isidro & Sobral, 2015;Post & Byron, 2014;Zhang, 2020), and increases shareholder value (Defrancq et al., 2021;Huang & Kisgen, 2013). Despite increasing academic research demonstrating the positive impact of women on firms' performance (Kirsch, 2018), the proportion of women corporate leaders in practice remains low. 1 Rixom et al. (2023) point out that women's participation may be viewed as a means to bolster the firm's commitment to diversity, while their actual contributions are often marginalized. Therefore, it is necessary to provide empirical evidence to reveal the processes through which women corporate leaders influence performance if the value of women is to be really recognized. ...
This study empirically examines how gender-diverse leadership teams influence the outcomes of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by signing performance commitment contracts (PCs) to unveil the efforts of women corporate leaders in the M&A process. Using a sample of Chinese firms from 2009 to 2021, we find that gender-diverse leadership increases the likelihood of signing PCs in M&As. The strength of this effect depends not only by the number of women in leadership and the power they hold but also by the organizational environment that enables women to exercise leadership more effectively, such as meeting frequency and gender equality culture. Furthermore, we find that ethical leadership and risk-averse attitudes are two channels through which women leaders affect PC design at both the firm and PC terms levels. Although M&A parties can benefit from PCs signed by gender-diverse leadership, we observe that the stock market fails to anticipate the incremental value that women leaders may bring to the M&As during the announcements, which implies that the visibility of the value brought by women leaders remains limited in the current Chinese capital market.
... Since CABs often lack diversity 23-26 , they can result in limited perspectives, bias in decision making, perpetuation of health disparities, and reduced trust and engagement in medical institutions. Similar to the makeup of corporate boardrooms, increasing diversity on CABs can improve psychological safety and quality of feedback by reducing feelings of tokenism and increasing feelings of inclusion 27,28 . This can be measured by including multiple members of diverse communities and asking VAT members to complete a feedback form after each meeting to assess their satisfaction with meetings and their contributions. ...
In healthcare and medical research, advisory boards are now commonplace, but most boards consist of a relatively homogenous, geographically collocated group, often demonstrating demographic imbalance. It is crucial to include individuals from diverse backgrounds on community advisory boards for healthcare and medical research to address ongoing health disparities and ensure studies are more culturally competent so that we can achieve more inclusive representation. We conducted purposeful recruitment to attract a demographically diverse group of community members across the United States (U.S.) to partner with the All of Us Research Program to inform our strategies including program recruitment, engagement, retention, and incentives. Recruitment of a diverse group of advisors and purposeful community building has created a psychologically safe environment where members openly share their opinions, thoughts, and perspectives to shape various aspects of this ambitious, nationwide research program.
... Gender-diverse boards are associated with higher-quality board discussions on challenging topics, some of which allmale boards might not address (Alfar et al., 2023). Therefore, the resource dependence theory suggests that a gender-diverse board contributes value to a firm (Rixom et al., 2023). ...
This study investigates the influence of board gender diversity on the shareholder value of South African-listed non-financial companies on the JSE from 2013 to 2022. The study used a quantitative quasi-experimental method to examine the influence of board gender diversity on shareholder value creation measures from a multi-theoretical perspective. The board gender diversity measures include the proportion of women directors on the board, the Blau index for board gender diversity, and dummy variables indicating the presence of one, two, three, or more women directors on the board, as well as skewed board, tilted board, and balanced board. Shareholder value creation is proxied using standardised market value added, market-to-book ratio, and Tobin’s Q. The study utilises fixed effects models based on linear and curvilinear models to test the hypotheses. According to linear models, all board gender diversity measures demonstrate a significant positive, negative, or no effect on shareholder value creation measures, aligning with the multi-theoretical perspective of corporate governance research. However, curvilinear quadratic models suggest that the Blau index for board gender diversity and the proportion of women directors on board positively and negatively affect shareholder value creation, highlighting an inverted U-shaped effect. The results recognise the "too much- of- a -good- thing” effect and a possible optimal(or worse) level of board gender diversity as crucial. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the claim of the ‘‘one size fits all’’ board gender diversity mechanism in creating and maximising shareholder value, often implicitly stated by regulators and advisors, may be misleading.
... Upper echelons theory offers a valuable framework for understanding this relationship, linking the characteristics of senior executives to organizational performance (Hambrick, 2007;Hambrick & Mason, 1984). According to this theory, the diverse backgrounds, personalities, and decision-making styles of senior executives are pivotal in determining how resources are allocated and utilized, directly impacting the success of corporate initiatives (Rixom et al., 2023). Empirical studies applying this theory illustrate the influence of CEO characteristics on firm strategies and outcomes. ...
This study investigates the influence of Organizational Psychological Capital (OPC) on corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices, highlighting a relatively overlooked aspect in existing studies, and examines the moderating effect of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power on this relationship. Using a dataset of 1,659 firm-year observations from FTSE 350 firms across the years 2012-2021 and applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, our findings reveal that higher levels of OPC are linked to a stronger commitment to ESG initiatives. However, this positive association is tempered by CEO power, which negatively moderates the relationship. Furthermore, our analysis shows that OPC not only enhances ESG performance but also positively influences financial performance and the core ESG pillars. These results, validated through rigorous robustness checks, offer significant insights for stakeholders and policymakers in the realm of corporate governance.
... Initially, the term tokenism (symbolic) was born from the speeches of the anti-racist struggle, orchestrated by pastor and activist Martin Luther King. Since then, this theme has been appropriated and suggested to address various social and organisational issues (Abebe and Dadanlar 2021;Bogicevic, Li, and Salvato 2023;Fraga et al. 2021;King et al. 2010;Rixom, Jackson, and Rixom 2023). Kanter (1977), a precursor in discussions of tokenism in organisational contexts, identified four types of groups (uniform, skewed, tilted, and balanced) and proposed a framework for understanding the dynamics of tokenism based on three perceptual phenomena (visibility, polarisation, and assimilation). ...
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This paper captures critical incidents under the three phenomena of tokenism – visibility, polarity, and adequacy – of gay and cis men (token figures) compared to straight and cis men (the dominant group) in the accounting environment, perceived as predominantly male. Such an environment can lead to the silencing of sexual subjectivities that do not meet heteronormative performance standards. The main concern is to observe how accountants who are both gay and cis – a minority – may feel themselves to be token figures in an area where the dominant group is men who are straight and cisgendered. Thus, this study falls within the scope of queer studies and highlights how social relations and representation between the two groups are processed in a predominantly masculine professional area. To this end, interviews were conducted with accounting professionals and members of the Accounting Collective for Inclusion and Diversity in Brazil. Using the critical incidents technique, it was possible to observe that men who were gay and cis had, throughout their professional careers – under the observable phenomena of tokenism – been confronted with potential scrutiny in the face of the dominant group. The study also points out that accountants who are gay and cisgendered are constantly confronted with behaviour similar to that of straight and cis accountants to protect their image. As a response to remaining a minority in organisations, men who are gay and cis feel forced to get as close as possible to the stereotype of heteronormativity so that their behaviour, clothes, and even tone of voice are consistent with the social norm of heterosexuality. A lack of organisational policies was also observed to mediate the tension between the groups (dominants and tokens) and the interviewees’ pessimism regarding likely changes in the future professional scenario.
... We define diversity tokenism similarly, as the tokenistic use of SLs to posture diversity for the benefit of the entity showing off their commitment to diversity, without in-depth and critical engagement with the issues and challenges faced by the d/Deaf community. Diversity tokenism practices have been studied with regards to marginalised groups in other domains such as business (Vohra et al. 2013), advertising (Drye 2021), leadership (Rixom et al. 2023), and higher education (Mugo and Puplampu 2022). For example, Vohra et al. (2013: 582) conducted a study on diversity and inclusion efforts of businesses in India and explain how "organizations trivialized inclusion efforts when they resorted to tokenism and used diversity primarily for image building"a statement that aligns closely with our definition of diversity tokenism. ...
This exploratory study provides an overview of prominent themes pertaining to portrayals of sign languages (SLs) and Deaf people in the South African press (2011–2019), as well as an analysis of a subset of articles to illustrate the discursive constructions of each of the prominent ideological framings. The findings of the paper suggest that many ways of representing South African Sign Language (SASL) and their users align with international trends. The two most prominent ideological framings are the medical/disability model and the linguistic minority model. Within the medical model, SLs are seen as inferior means of communication used by a disabled minority. Within the linguistic minority framework SLs are regarded as natural, legitimate languages deserving equal status to spoken languages. The paper also identifies an ideological framing that is not predicted by the international literature, coined here as ‘diversity tokenism’. Diversity tokenism is when SL is mentioned only to increase perceived diversity, where diversity is a commodity that holds social capital. This portrayal of SASL seems to be increasing and holds a warning: although SASL users have received official recognition and rights through the recent declaration of SASL as an official language, it might not be the end of the battle to ensure that users of SASL can live out their linguistic citizenship.
