The Corporate Governance Case for Board Gender Diversity: Evidence from Delaware Cases

Gender diversity on company boards is becoming an increasingly important issue. The theoretical bases for the desirability of gender diversity regulations can be understood under three categories i.e. social benefits; business benefits; and corporate governance benefits. Since corporate governance is the main task of the board of directors, the corporate governance case for board gender diversity needs to be developed further. This article tests the corporate governance benefits of board gender diversity by conducting a qualitative content analysis of Delaware cases. The observations from this study are then analysed against the quantitative and qualitative literature on the about the corporate governance benefits of board gender diversity. The findings suggest that gender diversity might help boards overcome some impediments to effective functioning in certain cases but also suggests other complementary solutions to make boards more effective. The article thus, builds the corporate governance case for board gender diversity, but also sets out its limits.