Study Looks at Drivers of Gender Diversity on Boards of Directors

Mounting evidence suggests gender diversity within an organization’s board of directors is key to overall organizational effectiveness.

However, progress in increasing female board representation has been slow.

A new study by a team of researchers, including UTEP's Cynthia Halliday, Ph.D., sought a connection between the organizational leadership structure and the representation of females on boards of directors.

“Organizations can benefit from having more women serving on their boards,” Halliday said. “Our study identifies several organizational leadership factors that may help organizations foster gender diversity on their boards.”

Halliday – an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and Management at UTEP's Woody L. Hunt College of Business – co-wrote the paper with Samantha Paustian-Underdahl, Ph.D., and Stav Fainshmidt, Ph.D., of Florida State University and Florida International University, respectively.

Their work was published in the Journal of Business and Psychology.

Conducting a meta-analysis of more than 158 papers encompassing more than 60,000 organizations across nearly 40 countries, the group integrated implicit bias, agency theory and institutional theory to propose a connection between a nation’s gender equality and an organization’s gender diversity within its overall structure and within its leadership and board make-up.

Findings from this research provide practical implications for organizations seeking to increase the number of females on their boards of directors. The study shows a link between the presence of a female CEO and an increase in the representation of females on boards of directors, particularly in countries of lower gender equality.

Using the Netherlands and Brazil as examples, Halliday suggests that a female CEO in Brazil – where gender equality is low – may bring women to that organization and its board, compared to a female CEO in the Netherlands – where gender equality is high – the effect of a female CEO may not be as potent.

In addition, organizations with more outside directors in their boards are also more likely to have higher female representation on their boards. Organizational leadership characteristics are a valid point of focus for organizations seeking to increase gender diversity. Regardless of location, boards composed of younger directors are more likely to have a higher percentage of female representation.

Overall, organizations seeking to increase the representation of female directors should also consider their organizational leadership characteristics and the structure of their boards, both of which may indirectly support gender diversity on their boards of directors.