The Gender Diversity Imitation Game: Board Interlocks and the Diffusion of Gender Diversity

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“The Gender Diversity Imitation Game: Board Interlocks and the Diffusion of Gender Diversity”

Abstract

This study explores the influence of interlocking directorates for gender diversity on boards. We examine a broad social network of interlocking directors in U.S., comprising more than 18,000 firms over 20 years (1999–2019), and show that companies imitate each other in terms of their board gender diversity composition. Our study uses consensus models that show how companies increase (or decrease) their proportion of women on boards due to competing pressures among firms that are direct interlocks. Results show that companies that share directors follow a mimetic behavior regarding the gender composition on boards. However, this process of imitation is asymmetric, as we find that companies with a higher proportion of women on boards than the average of their tied-to firms in the boards’ network, experience stronger influence to reduce this proportion than when the proportion is lower than the average and direct linked firms push towards increasing this proportion. This asymmetry disappears when there are two women on boards and even reverses when there is a critical mass of three or more women on the board. This asymmetric behavior contributes to the low presence of women on boards’ networks and shows the relevance of social network theory for corporate governance and gender diversity on boards.

Bio

Ruth Mateos de Cabo is a Professor in Marketing Research at the University CEU San Pablo in Madrid (Spain). She is head of the line of research on Women Leadership of the USPCEU-Mutua Madrileña Chair. She is author of several peer-reviewed scholarly publications in leading journals such as, Journal of Business Ethics, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Economics Letters, Sex Roles. and Tourism Management. Her research has been featured in leading media outlets, including The Economist and BBC World News.