[1] DIVERSE BOARDS AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF GENDER REPRESENTATION, EXPERTISE, CULTURAL DIVERSITY, STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING, AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

How to Cite the Article: Tulika Dutta Roy (2026). Diverse Boards and Effective Governance: An Analysis of Gender Representation, Expertise, Cultural Diversity, Strategic Decision-Making, and Corporate Performance. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews, 5(9), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.56815/ijmrr.v5i9.2026.1-12

Abstract

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.