Gender and Corporate Responsiblity
In a new study, Gender and Corporate Responsibility: It’s a Matter of Sustainability, conducted by researchers at Catalyst, a non-profit that focuses on the achievement of women and business and the Harvard Business School there is evidence that companies with more women in senior management positions may be better practitioners of corporate social responsibility. Previous research showed these companies, on average, financially outperform, those with fewer women in upper management.
“Companies are realizing that advancing more women to senior leadership roles has many benefits, including increased financial performance and sustainability,” said Anabel Pérez, Senior Vice President, Development, Catalyst.”
Catalyst and HBS researchers found that companies with more women board directors and corporate officers contributed significantly more charitable funds, on average, than companies with fewer or no women in senior roles:
In 2007, the average donations of companies with three or more women directors were 28 times higher than those of companies with no women directors.
Between 1997 and 2007, companies with more women board directors donated significantly more funds than did companies with fewer women—with each additional woman board director representing an increase of 2.3 million dollars.
Companies with 25% or more women corporate officers in 2007 made annual contributions that were 13 times higher than those made by companies with zero women corporate officers.
Companies with more women corporate officers donated significantly more funds between 1997 and 2007, and for each percentage point increase in women corporate officers, yearly donations increased by 5.7 million dollars.
Other studies have shown women leaders may bring diverse perspectives on fairness and the distribution of resources to donation decisions, which may in turn broaden a company’s commitment to CSR and increase its levels of charitable giving.
This study also indicates that companies with more women leaders are not only more committed, on average, to corporate social responsibility—they may also be better at it, in the sense that such companies are likely to develop higher-quality CSR initiatives.
Tags: corporate executives, employee attitudes, female executives
