Amplifying the Female Advantage: The Impact of Female Representation in Top Management on Employee’s Work Experiences

• In Event: History, Gender Issues & Public Interest

Abstract

Although women’s representation in senior leadership positions has made modest progress during the past few years, female executives are still the exception. As of 2021, women represent 6% of CEOs in the S&P 500 and 17% of top management team positions globally. Despite the dearth of women in senior leadership positions, past researchers have investigated the impact of the few women in these positions on firm outcomes and found that women favorably impact a firm’s bottom-line. Predominantly, this stream of research has focused on business performance and other macro-level outcomes while much less research has examined the impact of female representation in top management on improving the organization at a micro-level.

Our research investigates the impact of female representation in top management on improving the workplace experiences of employees. Drawing on upper echelon theory, we argue that female representation in top management integrates a more feminine management style in top management that is more likely to improve the workplace via implementing a greater work-life balance and a positive organizational culture. Using a proprietary dataset of employee ratings from over 5,000 firm-year observations, we find employees’ ratings of work-life balance and organizational culture are significantly higher in organizations when women are members of the top management team. Additionally, we find our results are strengthened in younger firms and firms with a more centralized operating structure.

Our research has important implications for today’s workplace. For example, female representation in top management is especially critical during this time as the pandemic has increased the work-life balance challenge for many employees. Specifically, women have disproportionally taken on caretaking roles while at the same time doing their full-time jobs since the pandemic started. As a result, women are leaving the paid workforce which will have implications for women’s advancement in organizations for years to come. As our findings suggests, female representation in top management impacts work-life balance and as such, could play a meaningful role in creating policies that help women navigate their increased responsibilities at home due to the pandemic as well as keep them on a forward trajectory in the workforce. The impact of female representation in top management on the careers of women and the workforce generally may be profound.

Authors

• Sijing Wei, Creighton University

• Yiding Wang, University of Oklahoma

• Regina Taylor, Creighton University

• Darryl Rice, Miami University