Does gender diversity in management matter? : the case based on Polish companies from ranking published by Puls Biznesu

This article examines the relationship between gender diversity in statutory bodies and woman’s odds of being a business leaders in Poland. Under the empirical framework we assume that gender diversity in the boardroom can improve the quality of work and lead to better decision-making, thus affect financial outcomes and increase the probability that a female director will be rewarded by an external institution. The sample consists of 82 firms from the "Business Women" plebiscite organized by Puls Biznesu in 2012-2021. Our dataset contains information on the members of statutory bodies, i.e.: gender, age, tenure, and function, as well as financial and organizational characteristics of the companies. The variables were collected manually from the InfoVeriti database and EMIS database. We measure gender diversity on boards using Herfindahl – Hirschman Index. Drawing on critical mass theory by measuring gender diversity as levels of female representation in the boardroom, this study finds a positive and significant relationship between gender diversity and the laureate's ranking position.