Title: Gender Balance Helps More Than Corporate Profits
Study: Gender and Corporate Responsibility: It’s A Matter of Responsibility (Rachael Soares, Christopher Marquis, Matthew Less, Catalyst 2011)
Finding: Companies with both male and female leaders in the boardroom and at the executive table are poised to achieve sustainable big wins for the company and society.
Note about The Woman Effect Research Index: This study was performed by researchers not affiliated with InPower Women. Our Research Index includes all relevant research to the subject of women, business and power. We do not influence how the research was conducted or reported by the researchers. In our abstracts, we focus on pulling out the most actionable advice for individual women. To suggest additional research we should index, or discuss our choice of abstract focus, please contact us
InPower Insight: Gender balance in leadership facilitates different decision-making styles that produce short term and long term benefits, including profits and more.
Summary:
Catalyst researchers found that when gender-inclusive leadership is maintained over time there are higher returns on the short term balance sheet. Benefits of having a gender inclusive leadership team is found to exceed that of financial returns as well. Researchers found that when corporate leadership is more diverse, there is increased corporate social responsibility.
Fortune 500 companies with women leaders donate more to charitable causes. In 2007, yearly company contributions to charity was 28 times higher when three or more women directors sat on the board; annual philanthropic giving increased by 2.3 million dollars. In 2007, when Fortune 500 companies had 25% more women as corporate officers, their annual corporate contributions to charity was 13 times higher; annual philanthropic giving increased by 5.7 million for every additional percent increase in the presence of women.
The study also found that with more gender- diverse boards and committees, companies are more oriented towards sustained growth and the benefit to society is greater.
Personal Coaching Tip: It’s not uncommon for women to have a broader view of success than many of their male colleagues. Sometimes when others devalue any sense of success other than profits it’s easy to feel under-valued yourself if you’re standing for more than profits. Respect the dominant metrics for success, but don’t diminish your other success standards. They matter ,and whenever you can help achieve a “two-fer” make sure to take credit for it. This is how we change the status quo.
