TY - JOUR

T1 - Measuring board diversity

T2 - A systematic literature review of data sources, constructs, pitfalls, and suggestions for future research

AU - Behlau, Hendrik

AU - Wobst, Janice

AU - Lueg, Rainer

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Richard Welford (Editor-in-Chief) and one anonymous reviewer for their excellent guidance and constructive feedback throughout the review process. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - The purpose of this systematic literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the methods used to measure board diversity. We develop a framework to structure empirical studies and develop an agenda for future research. We selected 61 empirical articles from an initial sample of 1035. This study discusses the different data collection methods. We group director and board attributes into the constructs of structural, demographic, and cognitive diversity. We identify four different approaches to combining and measuring diversity: non-index, single-index, cross-indices, and inter-indices. We find that measuring board diversity requires a mixture of archival and primary research, as well as various methods such as applying indices, constructing heterogeneity scores, and using machine learning approaches to infer directors' attributes. We contribute to research by providing a framework that structures measuring techniques for board diversity, a future research agenda, and insights on potential window-dressing.

AB - The purpose of this systematic literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the methods used to measure board diversity. We develop a framework to structure empirical studies and develop an agenda for future research. We selected 61 empirical articles from an initial sample of 1035. This study discusses the different data collection methods. We group director and board attributes into the constructs of structural, demographic, and cognitive diversity. We identify four different approaches to combining and measuring diversity: non-index, single-index, cross-indices, and inter-indices. We find that measuring board diversity requires a mixture of archival and primary research, as well as various methods such as applying indices, constructing heterogeneity scores, and using machine learning approaches to infer directors' attributes. We contribute to research by providing a framework that structures measuring techniques for board diversity, a future research agenda, and insights on potential window-dressing.

KW - board attributes

KW - board diversity

KW - cognitive characteristics

KW - measurement

KW - structural characteristics

KW - systematic literature review

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171289790&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/9a169df7-caae-34a6-8b2c-547eada6ebcc/

U2 - 10.1002/csr.2620

DO - 10.1002/csr.2620

M3 - Scientific review articles

AN - SCOPUS:85171289790

VL - 31

SP - 977

EP - 992

JO - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management

JF - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management

SN - 1535-3958

IS - 2

ER -