Inside the black box: How can gender diversity make a difference in the boardroom?

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-07-2021-0178
• Published date: 14 April 2022
• Date: 14 April 2022
• Pages: 889-906
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Hanen Khemakhem,Manel Maalej,Richard Fontaine

Inside the black box: How can

gender diversity make a difference

in the boardroom?

Hanen Khemakhem

Department of Accounting, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Canada

Manel Maalej

Hedi Chaker University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia, and

Richard Fontaine

Department of Accounting, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Canada

Abstract

Purpose –Prior research shows that a board of directors’gender diversity positively influences organizations.

However, little is known about how and why gender diversity influences the board of directors’functioning and

decisions. The objective of this paper is to investigate the differences between women and men when fulfilling

their role as directors.

Design/methodology/approach –This research uses a qualitative approach based on 29 in-depth semi-

structured interviews with female and male board members.

Findings –The authors’findings reveal that women are as involved as men in the board tasks and

responsibilities. Also, women have the same understanding as men of their role and of the skills needed to be

board members. However, women fulfil their role differently than men. Women come to board meetings more

prepared, take more notes and do more follow-up, and they also dare to ask tough questions to top

management. Women directors bring a different point of view —representing different interests —to board

discussions, have a different communication style, are not a part of theboys’club and have a social upbringing

that might explain gender differences in the boardroom.

Research limitations/implications –This study could help boards and policymakers introduce diversity

measures and provide ways to better integrate women into top decision-making groups such as board of

directors.

Practical implications –This study’s findings can help organizations include females in key decision-

making groups such as board of directors.

Social implications –This study reveals that in the same social setting, with the same role and expectations,

and the same understanding of their role, both genders continue to perform differently.

Originality/value –Based on direct evidence from board members, this study highlights how and why

women do their role in the boardroom differently.

Keywords Gender diversity, Gender differences, Gender roles, Female directors, Board of directors

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Womenstill find it difficultto access high-levelpositions, such as thoseon the board of directors

(Catalyst, 2020). However, research shows that women’srepresentation in the boardroom can

influence board functioning and organizational performance (Kang et al., 2007;Brennan and

McCafferty, 1997;Jizi and Nehme, 2017). Thus, women’s representation on the board of

directors, referred to as the gender diversity of the board, can benefit the organization.

Board gender diversity offers the organization several advantages, such as additional

knowledge, new ideas and innovative solutions (Arfken et al., 2004). Also, board gender

diversity promotes organizational awareness of stakeholder needs (Konrad et al., 2008), thus

improving the reputation and legitimacy of organizations (Bear et al., 2010). Furthermore,

Gender

differences in

boardroom

889

Funding: The authors would like to thank the Guy-Bernier Chair in Cooperative Business of the

University of Quebec at Montreal for the financial support of this research.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 16 July 2021

Revised 15 January 2022

Accepted 17 March 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 6, 2022

pp. 889-906

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-07-2021-0178

board gender diversity is positively associated with environmental and social performance

and sustainable development (Ben-Amar et al., 2017;Orazalin and Baydauletov, 2020)[1].

The dynamics of having both females and males on the board can increase group

creativity and problem-solving abilities (Hoffman and Maier, 1961). The board of directors as

a heterogeneous group can be more creative, make better decisions (Haynes and Hillman,

2010) and encourage strategic change (Jackson et al., 1995;Konrad et al., 2008). Furthermore,

male directors can gain experience by working with female directors, allowing women to

contribute more effectively on the board (Boutchkova et al., 2020). Besides, women’s

representation on the board of directors can increase companies’value and shareholder

wealth (Kang et al., 2007). Women as board members also have a better understanding of

consumer behaviours and needs and opportunities to meet those needs (Konrad et al., 2008;

Arfken et al., 2004). Gender diversity of board members could therefore help companies

become more aware of the interests and needs of the various stakeholders. Nevertheless, it is

still unclear how and why gender diversity influences organizations and boards.

In addition to their gender, research on the influence of board gender diversity assumes

that female directors bring other aspects to boards that are different from those brought by

men, such as their knowledge, skills and abilities, experiences and behaviours, values and

personality traits (Adams and Funk, 2012;Kirsch, 2018). However, little is yet known about

gender-related behavioural differences in the boardroom (Adams and Funk, 2012) and how

and why these differences occur.

Research has investigated the outcomes of gender diversity of the board in different

settings, without explaining how the underlying role and actions of female directors could

influence boardfunctioning and organizational performance.Although some research studies

investigate the influence of female representation on the board (Huse and Solberg, 2006;

Nielsen and Huse,2010a,b;Tremblay et al., 2016;Kakabadse et al., 2015),it is still unclear how

and why women’s representation on boards could make a difference for organizations. Our

research helps to contributeto a better understanding of gender differences in the boardroom

by directly investigating the perspectiveof both men and women.

Based on data from 29 interviews of female and male board members, the objective of this

paper is to investigate the differences between women and men when fulfilling their role as

board members. We focus on how female and male board members perceive and execute their

role, based on their gender differences.

We discovered that women are not only as involved as men on the board, but they also

take their role very seriously. Our findings reveal that while men and women have the same

understanding of their role and the necessary competencies to be on the board, they do not

fulfil their roles in the same way. According to our participants, at board meetings, women are

more prepared, take more notes and do more follow-up with management when compared to

men. Not only do women bring a different point of view into the board’s discussions, but they

also go more into detail, ask more questions and dare to ask tough questions. In addition to a

different communication style, our participants attribute the difference between women’s and

men’s behaviours to the fact that being on the board is more challenging for women and that

they are not part of the boys’club. The difference is also due to the fact that women have a

different social role.

Our research contributes to the debate on gender diversity in upper management

positions. Moreover, our study extends the existing literature on gender roles and gender

differences by showing how and why women and men can execute the same role in a different

manner and that in this difference lays benefits for the organization.

2. Theoretical background

Gender-related behavioural differences might arise from different social norms regarding,

and different social expectations towards, both genders (Eagly and Wood, 2012;Bussey and

EDI

41,6

890