It’s well known that a greater share of women in senior leadership roles has a wide range of benefits for their organization. Research from Surrey Business School suggests that one of these might be the adoption of environmental standards.
The researchers explored how companies with a higher share of female leaders performed in terms of their adoption of environmental standards, before then examining how the personal attributes of female leaders contribute to these outcomes.
“We found that the simple presence of women on top management teams results in companies adopting progressive environmental standards, particularly when women executives have personal power, are members of corporate social responsibility committees, and work in gender-egalitarian countries,” the researchers explain.
“As a result, women are motivated to express their unique perspective in organizational and institutional contexts that accept and support the distinctiveness associated with their diversity.”
Environmental standards
The researchers analyzed data from nearly 500 firms in China, Pakistan, and India. These countries were chosen because of the high pollution common across each of them.
The analysis revealed that companies with a higher proportion of female leaders were also more likely to adopt the International Organization for Standardizations’ ISO 14001 certification, which is widely recognized as a robust framework by which firms can gauge their environmental impact.
“In recent years, firms from emerging countries have been increasingly scrutinized for wrongdoing, particularly in relation to the natural environment,” the authors conclude. “Stakeholders and the general public are more comfortable with taking actions to discourage environmentally destructive practices.”
“For example, investors in most countries now discount the share prices of firms that cause environmental damage; governments introduce regulations that impose pollution levies; and consumers use organizational environmental behavior as a criterion for making purchase decisions.”
