Diversity has long been discussed to impact on firm innovation (Arun and Joseph, 2021; Tshetshema and Chan, 2020; Xie et al., 2020; Zhan et al., 2015; Ostergaard et al., 2011). On the one hand, the value of diversity literature suggests that employee’s diverse knowledge is a key driver of competitive advantage at organizational level (Lungeanu and Contractor, 2015; Teece, 2009; Chandler, 2001; Grant, 1996). Employees with diverse knowledge, experience and skills benefit the firms by creating more innovation opportunities via triad-and-error or knowledge combination approaches (Quintana-Garca and Benavides-Velasco, 2008). They extend organizational routines and search activities (Dosi, 1988), and increasing absorptive capacity (Zahra and George, 2002) and organizational learning (van der Vegt and Janssen, 2003). The integration of different resources and knowledge embodied and embedded across the diversified employees within a firm generates new products (Grant, 1996). On the other hand, some empirical studies found that employee diversity result in conflict, division and disbanding of the innovation teams. It creates stereotyping, and in-group/out-of-group and cognitive biases (Williams and O’ Reilly, 1998). For example, gender diversity can create emotional conflicts, reducing team performance (Pelled et al., 1999), and the quality of new ideas may be reduced (Cave and Valentine, 1999). Thus, it is very difficult for firms to manage the employees with diverse cognitive and demographic backgrounds (Joshi and Roh, 2009; Harrison and Klein, 2007; Williams and O’s Reilly, 1998), and eventually get benefits of it (Roberge and Dick, 2010). Employee diversity “appears to be a double-edged sword, increasing the opportunity for creatively as well as the likelihood that group members will be dissatisfied and fail to identify with the group” (Milliken and Martins, 1996, p.403; Zhan et al., 2015; Gonzalez-Moreno et al., 2018).

본 연구는 성별다양성이 남성과 여성의 자발적 이직에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 본 연구는 성별다양 성을 Blau 지수로 정의하고 남성과 여성의 자발적 이직에 미치는 영향을 확인하였다. 한국노동연구원의 사업체 패널 자료 2007년에서 2013년까지 중 4개년치의 자료를 이용하여 사무직종 중심의 사업장 중 남 성 구성원이 여성 구성원보다 많은 사업장만을 대상으로 패널분석을 실시하였다. 연구 결과에 의하면 성 별다양성은 남성의 자발적 이직에 유의한 정(+)적 영향을 미쳤으며, 여성의 자발적 이직에는 유의한 부 (-)적 영향을 미쳤다. 성별다양성의 증가로 인해 기존 주류집단이었던 남성 구성원들의 유사성과 매력이 감소하였기 때문에 남성의 자발적 이직은 증가했을 것으로 판단된다. 또한 성별다양성의 증가는 소수집 단이 차별받지 않고 일할 환경을 형성하고 조직에 대한 신뢰와 만족감을 증가시키기 때문에 여성의 자발 적 이직을 감소시켰을 것이다. 이는 주류집단이 남성인 조직에서 성별다양성의 증가가 여성 집단과 남성 집단의 이직률에 다른 영향을 미치는 것을 보여주는 결과이다. 또한 최초 지배 성별을 고려하는 것과 고 려하지 않는 것의 결과 차이를 비교해보기 위해 추가분석을 실시하였다. 주요 직종이 사무직종인 모든 사업장을 대상으로 성별다양성이 남성과 여성의 자발적 이직에 미치는 영향을 검증하였다. 성별다양성은 남성의 자발적 이직에 유의한 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났으며, 여성의 자발적 이직에는 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, 최초 지배 성별을 고려하는 것과 고려하지 않는 것은 결과에 차이가 있었다. 이러한 결과들은 최초 지배 성별을 구분하여 성별다양성 연구를 진행해야 함을 시사한다. 후속 연구에서는 최신 데이터를 포함한 종단 자료를 활용하여, 다양한 업종과 직종을 대상으로 성별다양성이 남성과 여성의 자발적 이직에 미치는 차별적인 영향을 분석하는 시도가 필요할 것으로 판단된다.

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity (women on the board and women on the audit committee) and a firm’s financial stability. The ordinary least square analysis was used to determine the relationship. To measure the financial stability of Malaysian suspect firms, i.e., firms with the lowest positive earnings, the Altman (1993) Z-Score measurement was utilized. The results indicate that women on the board are significantly and negatively associated with the firm’s financial stability. That is, they are related to low financial stability, which contradicts the agency and resource dependence theories. Regarding women directors on the audit committee, there is no significant relationship with financial stability, meaning that they cannot protect the company against financial distress. These results are robust and do not change when using different measurements of gender diversity, one-year lag of independent variables, and other methods of analysis, namely random effect panel data. This study is the first to alert policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, and society in general to the need to re-evaluate and strengthen the role of women directors in improving firms’ financial stability, particularly in emerging economies like Malaysia.

The objective of this paper is to explore how board gender diversity affects corporate sustainability performance. Therefore, this paper examines the direct association between board gender diversity with corporate sustainability performance and the mediation effect of enterprise risk management (ERM) on this association. The study employed a cross-sectional survey method. Data were collected from annual reports, websites, and through the questionnaires that were distributed to Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of all the listed companies of Dhaka Stock Exchange, Bangladesh. The partial least square technique of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was employed for data analysis. The result did not find support for the direct association between board gender diversity and sustainability performance in Bangladesh context. This implies that contextual factors, such as, male-dominant board, appointment of female directors based on family ties, lack of education and expertise etc. may discount gender diversity direct influence on sustainability performance. However, the study finds strong support for the mediating role of ERM use within the corporate structure. Further analysis of indirect effect suggests that ERM use mediates the relationship of board gender diversity and sustainability performance in full. This implies that in the Bangladesh context effective use of ERM is highly recommended.