Gender diversity on corporate boards: Enhancing sustainability outcomes for Spain's IBEX 35 companies
Corporate diversity
Fecha: julio 2024
Patricia Gabaldon and Raluca Valeria Ratiu
SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 13 N.º4 (July 2024)
Historically, corporate boards were predominantly male due to societal norms and systemic barriers limiting women’s participation in senior leadership. More recently, institutional changes, such as board quotas and evolving social norms, now promote gender diversity in boardrooms. Such changes are believed to have positively impacted ESG outcomes within firms. Through an examination of annual reports across Spain’s IBEX-35 companies over the six-year period from 2017-2022, preliminary findings reveal that the overall impact of the presence of women directors and executives is limited except as regards sensitivity related to ESG issues, although the causality between gender diversity and ESG sensitivity cannot be confirmed. That said, the presence of woman directors is often linked to sustainability committees, providing diverse perspectives that improve the social and environmental responsibility of the companies. In the case of women executives, they seem to have a stronger impact on gender agendas.