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Why women make better directors

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  • Chris Bart
  • Gregory McQueen

Abstract

The positive correlation between the presence of female directors on boards and corporate performance suggests that women appear to make better directors than men. But why? Using the Defined Issues Test (DIT) instrument (Rest, 1979, 1986), 624 board directors (75% male; 25% female) were surveyed to determine their reliance on three reasoning methods (i.e., Personal Interest, Normative and Complex Moral Reasoning or CMR) to make decisions. The results showed that female directors achieved significantly higher scores than their male counterparts on the CMR dimension which essentially involves making consistently fair decisions when competing interests are at stake. Since directors are compelled to make decisions in the best interest of their corporation while taking the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders into account, having a significant portion of female directors with highly developed CMR skills on board would appear to be an important resource for making these types of decisions and making them more effectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Bart & Gregory McQueen, 2013. "Why women make better directors," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1), pages 93-99.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbget:v:8:y:2013:i:1:p:93-99
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    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Cong & Xiang, Kexin, 2023. "Structural power of female executives and retailer profitability: A contingent resource-based perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Đặng, Rey & Houanti, L’Hocine & Reddy, Krishna & Simioni, Michel, 2020. "Does board gender diversity influence firm profitability? A control function approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 168-181.
    3. Catarina Fernandes & Jorge Farinha & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Cesario Mateus, 2018. "Bank governance and performance: a survey of the literature," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 236-256, July.
    4. Li, Yuanqing & Sui, Sui & Wu, Sibin, 2022. "The effect of gender fit on crowdfunding success," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    5. Kayla Stajkovic & Alexander D. Stajkovic, 2024. "Ethics of Care Leadership, Racial Inclusion, and Economic Health in the Cities: Is There a Female Leadership Advantage?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(4), pages 699-721, February.
    6. Ayman Hassan Bazhair & Hamid Ghazi H Sulimany, 2023. "Does Family Ownership Moderate the Relationship between Board Diversity and the Financial Performance of Saudi-Listed Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Suwongrat Papangkorn & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard & Pornsit Jiraporn & Sirisak Chueykamhang, 2021. "Female directors and firm performance: Evidence from the Great Recession," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 598-610, June.
    8. Xiao Han T Zeng & Jordi Duch & Marta Sales-Pardo & João A G Moreira & Filippo Radicchi & Haroldo V Ribeiro & Teresa K Woodruff & Luís A Nunes Amaral, 2016. "Differences in Collaboration Patterns across Discipline, Career Stage, and Gender," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Jonathan Taglialatela & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Roberto Barontini & Francesco Testa, 2024. "Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2890-2910, May.
    10. Patrick Velte, 2018. "Does gender diversity in the audit committee influence key audit matters' readability in the audit report? UK evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 748-755, September.
    11. Ovidiu-Constantin Bunget & Dorel Mateș & Alin-Constantin Dumitrescu & Oana Bogdan & Valentin Burcă, 2020. "The Link between Board Structure, Audit, and Performance for Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-27, October.
    12. Valeria Naciti & Guido Noto & Carlo Vermiglio, 2021. "Diversit? di genere e performance organizzativa: un?analisi empirica nel settore sanitario," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(120), pages 45-61.
    13. Bhatia, Madhur & Gulati, Rachita, 2021. "Board governance and bank performance: A meta- analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    14. Simon Ayo ADEKUNLE & Oghenovo Owigho OKERE & Eseoghene KOKOGHO & Loretta EZE & Princess Eloho ODIO, 2024. "Board Characteristics And Corporate Performance: Evidence From The Nigerian Oil And Gas Companies," Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 87-97, March.
    15. Giovanni Bronzetti & Maurizio Rija & Graziella Sicoli & Dominga Anna Ippolito, 2021. "Diversit? di genere e sistema sanitario: un?analisi su un campione di aziende sanitarie italiane," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(120), pages 63-81.
    16. Lívia Markóczy & Sunny Li Sun & Jigao Zhu, 2021. "The Glass Pyramid: Informal Gender Status Hierarchy on Boards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 827-845, February.
    17. Guclu Atinc & Saurabh Srivastava & Sonia Taneja, 2022. "The impact of gender quotas on corporate boards: a cross-country comparative study," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(3), pages 685-706, September.
    18. Collins Ntim, 2015. "Board diversity and organizational valuation: unravelling the effects of ethnicity and gender," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(1), pages 167-195, February.
    19. Adams, Kweku & Attah-Boakye, Rexford & Yu, Honglan & Johansson, Jeaneth & Njoya, Eric Tchouamou, 2023. "Female board representation and coupled open innovation: Evidence from emerging market multinational enterprises," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    20. Lucas, Ryley & Gunasekarage, Abeyratna & Shams, Syed & Edirisuriya, Piyadasa, 2021. "Female directors and acquisitions: Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    21. Pompei Mititean, 2022. "The Impact Of Corporate Governance Characteristics On Companies’ Financial Performance: Evidence From Romania," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 67(233), pages 113-134, April – J.
    22. Husam Aldamen & Janice Hollindale & Jennifer L. Ziegelmayer, 2018. "Female audit committee members and their influence on audit fees," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(1), pages 57-89, March.
    23. Andre Havrylyshyn & Donald J. Schepker & Anthony J. Nyberg, 2023. "In the Club? How Categorization and Contact Impact the Board Gender Diversity-Firm Performance Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(2), pages 353-374, May.
    24. Luís A Nunes Amaral & João A G Moreira & Murielle L Dunand & Heliodoro Tejedor Navarro & Hyojun Ada Lee, 2020. "Long-term patterns of gender imbalance in an industry without ability or level of interest differences," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, April.
    25. Thunyanee Pothisarn & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard & Pornsit Jiraporn & Suwongrat Papangkorn, 2023. "Sustainability, asset redeployability, and board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1738-1752, July.

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