When and Why Diversity Improves Your Board’s Performance
March 27, 2019
Evidence that board diversity benefits firms is mixed. A 2015 meta-analysis of 140 research studies of the relationship between female board representation and performance found a positive relationship with accounting returns, but no significant relationship with market performance. Other research has found no relationship to performance at all.
Researchers interviewed 19 board directors (15 women and four men) to learn whether and how corporate boards were benefiting from diversity. Combined, the board members held seats on 47 corporate boards in the U.S. across a variety of industries. The research found that diversity doesn’t guarantee a better performing board and firm; rather, the culture of the board is what can affect how well diverse boards perform their duties and oversee their firms. Based on these findings, they worked with the Chairman of the Board at Deloitte to develop recommendations for how board chairs and directors can create more egalitarian board cultures and improve their governance.
Read more: on website hbr.org (EN)
