IJMRR - International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews
Int. J. Multidiscip. Res. Rev.
DOI Prefix: 10.56815
I J M R R
Int. J. Multidiscip. Res. Rev.

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews

Peer Reviewed | UGC Compliant | High Impact Factor | Scientific Journal

ISSN: 2945-3135 | High Scientific Impact | UGC-CARE Followed
IJMRR - International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews

DOI DOI Prefix: 10.56815
Vol. 5 (2026) No. 9: September (2026)

Diverse Boards and Effective Governance: An Analysis of Gender Representation, Expertise, Cultural Diversity, Strategic Decision-Making, and Corporate Performance

Tulika Dutta Roy

This paper studies eight large Nasdaq firms looking at board size, board diversity, and constructs of board governance to understand the implications on financial and strategic performance. Data used include the 2024 proxies for board size, women directors and board independence, and the FY 2024 Form 10-K for revenue growth, net income, and total assets and total equity. The representation of women is expressed as the number of women directors divided by the total number of directors. ROA and ROE are calculated by net income divided by average total assets and average total equity, respectively. Sample firms exhibit a mean of 32.29% representation of women on boards and a mean of 84.85% of board independence. The impacts of women representation on ROA, ROE and revenue growth were found to be small and insignificant. The impacts of board independence on ROA and ROE are positive and small, but weak and insignificant. The findings do not support the claim that improving board diversity would lead to better firm performance over a short time. Rather, a best-practices approach to board composition that combines diversity, independence, and governance would be firm-specific and would depend on the industry and the quality of board process.

Keywords:
Board Diversity Gender Representation Corporate Governance Board Independence Strategic Decision-Making Roa Nasdaq Firms