Do gender differences persist? An examination of gender diversity on firm performance, risk, and executive compensation

Women have made great strides in recent years in climbing the corporate ladder, yet the current corporate landscape suggests that obstacles still exist before true gender equity is achieved. We investigate the impact of gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) on firm performance and firm risk, in conjunction with examining the moderating effect of gender diversity on executive compensation. We find that firms with greater gender diversity in TMTs show lower risk and deliver better performance. In turn, female executives were found to be paid less than their male colleagues, even at the TMT level. However, as gender diversity in the TMT increases, compensation differences between the genders decrease. As such, we highlight a failure in the employment market place and also point to continuing challenges faced by female executives in their search for parity in TMTs.