This paper examines the relationship between female participation in top management and on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Over the last few decades, the presence of women in the labor force has increased drastically, but the same level of growth is not apparent in top management and on corporate boards. The impact women in top leadership positions have on firm value is investigated in this paper using financial measures of stock price growth, return on equity, and current ratio. The study finds that gender positively impacts financial performance. Additionally, the paper examines whether the presence of women affects acquisition-related activity in a company. Gender stereotyping leads to perceptions that women are less aggressive in business dealings than men are. This paper shows that there is no significant relationship between gender and aggression. Finally, I investigate the impact the presence of a female CEO or Chairman of the board has on the level of women in top leadership in the company. Current literature refers to a “glass ceiling” that occurs for women, which makes it difficult for them to get to the very top. The existence of male-dominated connections and networks might prohibit women from getting promoted. Does that change when the top leadership of the company is a woman? This research suggests that there is, in fact, a positive relationship between female leaders and female participation. This indicates the need for more mentorship and guidance for women as they progress through their careers, as well as a change in hiring policies. Procedures that take into consideration the talent that women have to offer could lead to improved financial success and increased female participation.

Problem:      Companies need to maintain a competitive position in the market to financially perform, and in order to do so, the companies need to have a good corporate governance structure. In the latter years, the ethical discussion about gender diversity has gained a lot of attention in society, which influence norms, standards and legislations, and also the business. Today, Swedish and Danish firms are obligated to strive for gender diversity in their corporate boards according to the corporate governance codes in the respective countries. However, the financial aspects should be taken into concern, since a company needs to financially perform to keep its operations. It is not established whether an increased gender diversity is related to financial performance, since studies on the field are contradictive. Due to the different results, it is interesting to see what the relationship looks like in the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden and Denmark where quota-based legislation has not yet been established. This thesis investigates the issue to provide evidence for the companies in similar countries if an increased gender diversity is financially supportable.   Purpose:      The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the gender diversity in the board of directors and its relationship with the financial performance of a corporation. Further, the study will investigate the financial performance dependency on the gender diversity in the board of directors.   Method:       A sample of 104 Swedish and Danish companies was chosen as observation objects. To investigate the relationship between the gender diversity and the financial performance, a Pearson correlation analysis was made. To identify the financial performance dependency on the gender diversity regression analyses were performed. Hypotheses that were built on agency theory, resource dependency theory, upper echelons theory and previous research were tested in the statistical analyses.   Results:        The statistical analyses show that there is no statistically significant relationship between gender diversity and financial performance, neither that the financial performance is dependent on the gender diversity. This evidence implies that increased gender diversity in board rooms should be motivated for other reasons than strictly financial success. Companies should consider these findings in the attaining process of directors and focus on other factors than financial progress in the proceeding involvement of women in the board. Thus, a company cannot increase its financial performance only by attaining more women to the board room. / Problem:      För att prestera finansiellt behöver företag bibehålla konkurrenskraft, och för att göra det är företagsledningen viktig. På senare tid, har den etiska diskussionen kring könsdiversitet fått stor uppmärksamhet i samhället, vilket påverkar normer, standarder och lagstiftning. Svenska och danska företag är förpliktigade att sträva efter könsdiversitet enligt den svenska och danska koden för bolagsstyrning, men även de finansiella aspekterna av könsmångfald bör tas i beaktning eftersom ett företag behöver prestera finansiellt för att kunna fortsätta sin verksamhet. Ännu är det inte fastslaget att en ökad könsdiversitet är relaterat till finansiella framsteg, då studier på området säger emot varandra. Därför är det intressant att se hur denna relation ser ut i de nordiska länderna, speciellt i Sverige och Danmark där kvoteringslagar ännu inte har införts. Denna uppsats undersöker frågan för att skapa bevis för företagen i länderna om en ökad könsdiversitet är finansiellt försvarbar.   Syfte:            Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka könsdiversitet i bolagsstyrelser och relationen till finansiella prestationer av företaget i fråga. Dessutom ämnar studien undersöka de finansiella prestationernas beroendeförhållande till könsdiversiteten i bolagsstyrelserna.     Metod:         Ett urval av 104 svenska och danska företag valdes som observationsobjekt. För att undersöka relationen mellan könsdiversitet och finansiella prestationer görs en Pearson korrelationsanalys. För att upptäcka om finansiella prestationer är har ett beroendeförhållande till könsdiversiteten i bolagsstyrelserna gjordes regressionsanalyser. Hypoteserna som testades baserades på agentteori, resursberoendeteori, och övernivåteori och tidigare empirisk forskning.   Resultat:      De statistiska analyserna visar att det inte finns något signifikant samband mellan könsdiversitet och finansiella prestationer, och inte heller att finansiell prestation har ett beroendeförhållande till könsdiversitet i bolagsstyrelsen. Dessa resultat indikerar att en ökad könsdiversitet i styrelserummen bör motiveras av andra faktorer än strikt finansiell framgång. Företag bör ta ställning till resultaten från denna forskning i tillsättandet av styrelseledamöter och inte förvänta sig en förbättrad finansiell ställning enbart genom att tillsätta fler kvinnor till styrelsen.

Gender diversity within the boardroom is an important theme in the research of corporate governance. The lack of female directors during recent years have raised attention where the prejudice against women have been a central theme. Especially, in a gender egalitarian country as Sweden. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between female directors and financial performance, but also the presence of the “glass cliff” theory. The study is based on companies listed on Large Cap in Sweden, where data are collected from annual reports and a database. The collected data are analyzed by several statistical methods. The findings show that female directors do have a positive impact on a company’s financial performance, in terms of accounting-based measurements. However, the market-based measurement does not a provide a significant relationship to female directors, indicating that the Swedish stock market does neither positively or negatively react to a more gender diverse board. As no differences in performance are seen preceding the appointments of females compared to males, no evidence for the “glass cliff” is found. The findings suggest that female directors may enhance the performance of a company and disproves the prejudice against women. Further, the findings indicate that the Swedish boards are becoming more diverse, where precarious situations are not the reason for women to be appointed to the board.

The majority of previous research in the field of board diversity was dedicated to the direct link between board gender diversity and firm performance. Grounded in Agency- and Resource dependence theory, this thesis expands on this research and examines the main relationship including the influence of two additional factors: educational level of female directors and mandatory board gender quotas. Analyzing a sample of 454 European firms (3,871 firm-year observations) over the period 2007-2017, a positive relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance is found. Furthermore, the results suggest that educational levels or board gender quotas do not affect this relationship. The effects on firm performance differ depending on whether legislative measures or voluntary initiatives are in place, i.e. in contrast to legislative quotas, voluntary initiatives enhance firm performance.

Banking as a financial institution and a business has gone beyond providing banking servicesand making profits for the proprietors to assume macro positions like involving in activitiesthat propel an entire economy. This has earned the interest of national governments and thesociety as well as the international community as a whole inciting a need for supervision inorder to ensure sustainability.Banks as corporate organizations with the above stipulated stake holders and management arein a constant tog of war with each stakeholder seeking to protect its own kind which hasdegenerated to a vice often known in corporate governance as agency cost or principal-agentconflict. In corporate governance there is a board of directors that is designed to align theshareholders interest and management interest in order to check this agency cost.In our thesis we have expatiated widely on the concept of corporate governance, board ofdirectors and its composition. We have isolated gender diversity, which is one of thecompositions of the board to find out how it contributes to control agency cost by establishingits effect on ROE, which is a firm performance indicator. We introduced control variables tocheck our results.We collected data from the annual reports of Nordea, Swedbank, Handelsbanken and SEB,which are the listed banks in the OMX NASDAQ exchange Stockholm for period 2001 to2010. The board characteristic we used is the proportion of females in the entire board and thefirm performance indicator we chose is ROE. We carried out a longitudinal study for thewhole industry and for individual firms in the industry over the ten-year period.We have variation in the results over the different firms and in the industry but there is nosignificant relationship. We concluded that the proportion of females in the board rooms doesnot necessarily affect firm performance as viewed with the use of ROE but other factorstogether with gender proportion exert a combined effect and these other factors are correlatedand therefore affect the performance of each other either positively or negatively. Thisscenario was therefore not realistic enough to establish a relationship between genderproportion and ROE.

Esta dissertação trata de modos de funcionamento da norma no campo da sexualidade e relações de gênero em um contexto institucional e político-social de educação para diversidade, em que reiterações e transgressões à heteronormatividade são cotidianamente exercidas. Na contemporaneidade observa-se uma acentuada discursividade acerca das diversidades sexuais e de gênero, com valorização do assunto tanto na mídia quanto na agenda de políticas públicas. Nesta conjuntura, como uma das mais legitimadas instituições de nossa época, a escola é tomada como um espaço estratégico de luta e vem sendo convocada a discutir sexualidade e relações de gênero, gerando possibilidades de tensionamentos da temática no campo da educação. Porém, discursos, instituições e práticas são organizadas de forma heteronormativa em nossa sociedade e a atuação da norma pode provocar arranjos inusitados neste contexto de um projeto de educação para diversidade. Sob a égide da inclusão escolar e através de práticas pedagógicas para diversidade, “novas” sexualidades têm se tornado inteligíveis e aceitáveis, proporcionando reconhecimento e acesso a direitos a sujeitos antes marginalizados ou considerados abjetos. Mas, se por um lado a afirmação identitária e a defesa dos direitos humanos promovem o alargamento dos limites do considerado socialmente normal e a convivência de sujeitos outrora segregados com ampliação do nosso regime democrático, por outro lado também facilitam a normalização dos sujeitos, especificando-os e conformando modos de vida. A partir de uma perspectiva pós- estruturalista com aporte principalmente dos estudos foucaultianos, utilizei estratégias etnográficas em uma escola estadual da cidade de Porto Alegre com o objetivo de apreender e analisar o funcionamento de normas de sexualidade e gênero em um contexto eminentemente preocupado com uma educação para diversidade. Discuto como a heteronormatividade atravessa o dispositivo da sexualidade e se reatualiza por meio da pressuposição de heterossexualidade, pela marcação dos sujeitos que dissidem da norma, pela reafirmação de categorizações em padrões binários de sexualidade e gênero e pela domesticação da diversidade. Como a reiteração da norma é um processo nunca idêntico ao anteriormente exercido e nem completamente acabado, a eventual transgressão à norma e emersão do novo é sempre uma possibilidade instaurada nas práticas cotidianas. / This dissertation deals of modes of operartion in the norm field of sexuality and gender relations in an institutional and political-social context of education for diversity, in which reiterations and transgressions to heteronormativity are exercised routinely. In contemporary times there is a sharp discourse about sexual and gender diversity with an appreciation of the subject both in the media and in the public policy agenda. At this juncture, as one of most legitimate institutions of our time, the school is taken as a strategic space of struggle and has been convened to discuss sexuality and gender relations, generating possibilities of the thematic tensions in the field of education. However, discourses, institutions and practices are organized in a heteronormative way in our society and the actions of the standard may cause unusual arrangements in this context of a project of education for diversity. Under the aegis of school inclusion and through pedagogical practices for diversity, "new" sexualities have become intelligible and acceptable, providing recognition and access to rights to subjects previously marginalized or considered abject. But, if on one hand the identity affirmation and defense of human rights promote the expansion of the limits considered socially normal and the coexistence of subjects yore segregated with expansion of our democratic system, on the other hand also facilitate normalization of subjects, specifying and conforming the ways of life. From a poststructuralist perspective with input primarily from Foucault studies, I used ethnographic strategies in a public school in the city of Porto Alegre with the goal of understanding and analyzing the operation of norms of sexuality and gender in a context eminently concerned with education for diversity. I discuss how heteronormativity goes through the device of sexuality and renews through the presupposition of heterosexuality, by the marking of subjects that disagree with the norm, by the reaffirmation of categorizations in binary patterns of sexuality and gender and the domestication of diversity. As the reiteration of the norm is a process never identical to the previously exercised and not quite finished, the eventual transgression of the norm and emergence of the new is always a possibility brought in daily practices.

Esta dissertação trata de modos de funcionamento da norma no campo da sexualidade e relações de gênero em um contexto institucional e político-social de educação para diversidade, em que reiterações e transgressões à heteronormatividade são cotidianamente exercidas. Na contemporaneidade observa-se uma acentuada discursividade acerca das diversidades sexuais e de gênero, com valorização do assunto tanto na mídia quanto na agenda de políticas públicas. Nesta conjuntura, como uma das mais legitimadas instituições de nossa época, a escola é tomada como um espaço estratégico de luta e vem sendo convocada a discutir sexualidade e relações de gênero, gerando possibilidades de tensionamentos da temática no campo da educação. Porém, discursos, instituições e práticas são organizadas de forma heteronormativa em nossa sociedade e a atuação da norma pode provocar arranjos inusitados neste contexto de um projeto de educação para diversidade. Sob a égide da inclusão escolar e através de práticas pedagógicas para diversidade, “novas” sexualidades têm se tornado inteligíveis e aceitáveis, proporcionando reconhecimento e acesso a direitos a sujeitos antes marginalizados ou considerados abjetos. Mas, se por um lado a afirmação identitária e a defesa dos direitos humanos promovem o alargamento dos limites do considerado socialmente normal e a convivência de sujeitos outrora segregados com ampliação do nosso regime democrático, por outro lado também facilitam a normalização dos sujeitos, especificando-os e conformando modos de vida. A partir de uma perspectiva pós- estruturalista com aporte principalmente dos estudos foucaultianos, utilizei estratégias etnográficas em uma escola estadual da cidade de Porto Alegre com o objetivo de apreender e analisar o funcionamento de normas de sexualidade e gênero em um contexto eminentemente preocupado com uma educação para diversidade. Discuto como a heteronormatividade atravessa o dispositivo da sexualidade e se reatualiza por meio da pressuposição de heterossexualidade, pela marcação dos sujeitos que dissidem da norma, pela reafirmação de categorizações em padrões binários de sexualidade e gênero e pela domesticação da diversidade. Como a reiteração da norma é um processo nunca idêntico ao anteriormente exercido e nem completamente acabado, a eventual transgressão à norma e emersão do novo é sempre uma possibilidade instaurada nas práticas cotidianas. / This dissertation deals of modes of operartion in the norm field of sexuality and gender relations in an institutional and political-social context of education for diversity, in which reiterations and transgressions to heteronormativity are exercised routinely. In contemporary times there is a sharp discourse about sexual and gender diversity with an appreciation of the subject both in the media and in the public policy agenda. At this juncture, as one of most legitimate institutions of our time, the school is taken as a strategic space of struggle and has been convened to discuss sexuality and gender relations, generating possibilities of the thematic tensions in the field of education. However, discourses, institutions and practices are organized in a heteronormative way in our society and the actions of the standard may cause unusual arrangements in this context of a project of education for diversity. Under the aegis of school inclusion and through pedagogical practices for diversity, "new" sexualities have become intelligible and acceptable, providing recognition and access to rights to subjects previously marginalized or considered abject. But, if on one hand the identity affirmation and defense of human rights promote the expansion of the limits considered socially normal and the coexistence of subjects yore segregated with expansion of our democratic system, on the other hand also facilitate normalization of subjects, specifying and conforming the ways of life. From a poststructuralist perspective with input primarily from Foucault studies, I used ethnographic strategies in a public school in the city of Porto Alegre with the goal of understanding and analyzing the operation of norms of sexuality and gender in a context eminently concerned with education for diversity. I discuss how heteronormativity goes through the device of sexuality and renews through the presupposition of heterosexuality, by the marking of subjects that disagree with the norm, by the reaffirmation of categorizations in binary patterns of sexuality and gender and the domestication of diversity. As the reiteration of the norm is a process never identical to the previously exercised and not quite finished, the eventual transgression of the norm and emergence of the new is always a possibility brought in daily practices.

Esta dissertação trata de modos de funcionamento da norma no campo da sexualidade e relações de gênero em um contexto institucional e político-social de educação para diversidade, em que reiterações e transgressões à heteronormatividade são cotidianamente exercidas. Na contemporaneidade observa-se uma acentuada discursividade acerca das diversidades sexuais e de gênero, com valorização do assunto tanto na mídia quanto na agenda de políticas públicas. Nesta conjuntura, como uma das mais legitimadas instituições de nossa época, a escola é tomada como um espaço estratégico de luta e vem sendo convocada a discutir sexualidade e relações de gênero, gerando possibilidades de tensionamentos da temática no campo da educação. Porém, discursos, instituições e práticas são organizadas de forma heteronormativa em nossa sociedade e a atuação da norma pode provocar arranjos inusitados neste contexto de um projeto de educação para diversidade. Sob a égide da inclusão escolar e através de práticas pedagógicas para diversidade, “novas” sexualidades têm se tornado inteligíveis e aceitáveis, proporcionando reconhecimento e acesso a direitos a sujeitos antes marginalizados ou considerados abjetos. Mas, se por um lado a afirmação identitária e a defesa dos direitos humanos promovem o alargamento dos limites do considerado socialmente normal e a convivência de sujeitos outrora segregados com ampliação do nosso regime democrático, por outro lado também facilitam a normalização dos sujeitos, especificando-os e conformando modos de vida. A partir de uma perspectiva pós- estruturalista com aporte principalmente dos estudos foucaultianos, utilizei estratégias etnográficas em uma escola estadual da cidade de Porto Alegre com o objetivo de apreender e analisar o funcionamento de normas de sexualidade e gênero em um contexto eminentemente preocupado com uma educação para diversidade. Discuto como a heteronormatividade atravessa o dispositivo da sexualidade e se reatualiza por meio da pressuposição de heterossexualidade, pela marcação dos sujeitos que dissidem da norma, pela reafirmação de categorizações em padrões binários de sexualidade e gênero e pela domesticação da diversidade. Como a reiteração da norma é um processo nunca idêntico ao anteriormente exercido e nem completamente acabado, a eventual transgressão à norma e emersão do novo é sempre uma possibilidade instaurada nas práticas cotidianas. / This dissertation deals of modes of operartion in the norm field of sexuality and gender relations in an institutional and political-social context of education for diversity, in which reiterations and transgressions to heteronormativity are exercised routinely. In contemporary times there is a sharp discourse about sexual and gender diversity with an appreciation of the subject both in the media and in the public policy agenda. At this juncture, as one of most legitimate institutions of our time, the school is taken as a strategic space of struggle and has been convened to discuss sexuality and gender relations, generating possibilities of the thematic tensions in the field of education. However, discourses, institutions and practices are organized in a heteronormative way in our society and the actions of the standard may cause unusual arrangements in this context of a project of education for diversity. Under the aegis of school inclusion and through pedagogical practices for diversity, "new" sexualities have become intelligible and acceptable, providing recognition and access to rights to subjects previously marginalized or considered abject. But, if on one hand the identity affirmation and defense of human rights promote the expansion of the limits considered socially normal and the coexistence of subjects yore segregated with expansion of our democratic system, on the other hand also facilitate normalization of subjects, specifying and conforming the ways of life. From a poststructuralist perspective with input primarily from Foucault studies, I used ethnographic strategies in a public school in the city of Porto Alegre with the goal of understanding and analyzing the operation of norms of sexuality and gender in a context eminently concerned with education for diversity. I discuss how heteronormativity goes through the device of sexuality and renews through the presupposition of heterosexuality, by the marking of subjects that disagree with the norm, by the reaffirmation of categorizations in binary patterns of sexuality and gender and the domestication of diversity. As the reiteration of the norm is a process never identical to the previously exercised and not quite finished, the eventual transgression of the norm and emergence of the new is always a possibility brought in daily practices.

Nosso objetivo foi conhecer as histórias de vida de estudantes universitárias que vivenciam a diversidade sexual, bem como identificar sua recepção pelos docentes, em sala de aula, com vistas a compreender o fenômeno contemporâneo da inclusão da diversidade sexual na Universidade. Desta forma, norteamos o desenvolvimento deste estudo a partir dos três eixos teóricos seguintes: Horizontes da compreensão de gênero e da diversidade sexual na contemporaneidade, A inclusão educacional da diversidade sexual e a Universidade, e O corpo, a fala, a sexualidade e a diversidade sexual na fenomenologia de Merleau-Ponty. Para realizar tal intento elegemos a metodologia qualitativa fenomenológica, ancorada nos pressupostos teóricos do filósofo Maurice Merleau-Ponty, e os/as colaboradores/as foram contatados/as segundo o procedimento Bola de neve (Snowball). Foram entrevistadas, no total, cinco estudantes, sendo: três transexuais, um intersexual e uma drag queen, e cinco docentes, um homem e quatro mulheres, que tiveram, ou têm, em suas turmas, estudantes que vivenciam a diversidade sexual. Nos relatos de todas as colaboradoras estudantes emergiram 5 categorias: Nos horizontes da família; A trajetória escolar: do ensino fundamental ao médio; Nos horizontes da Universidade; e Projeto de vida. De forma singular, nos relatos das estudantes transexuais emergiu a categoria: Mundo-vida transexual; para a estudante intersexual emergiu a categoria Mundo-vida Intersexual; e, no relato da estudante drag queen emergiu a categoria Mundo-vida Drag queen. E para os/as docentes emergiram 4 categorias: O corpo percebido; A diversidade sexual e de gênero na Universidade; Nos horizontes da docência, e Intersubjetividade e consciência. Os relatos de nossas colaboradoras e seus/suas docentes revelam que os mundos-vidas destas estudantes são imersos em estigmas e sofrimentos. Muitos são os desafios a serem enfrentados para uma efetiva educação inclusiva para a diversidade sexual e de gênero. As transformações precisam atingir todas as instâncias do ensino, desde o ensino fundamental, passando pelo ensino médio para, enfim, alcançar o ensino superior / Our objective was to know the life histories of university students who experience sexual diversity as well as to find out how their teachers receive them in the classroom to understand the contemporary phenomenon of the inclusion of sexual diversity in the University. In this way, we orient the development of this study from the following three theoretical axes: \"Horizons of the understanding of gender and sexual diversity in the contemporaneity\", \"The educational inclusion of sexual diversity and the University, and\" The body, speech and sexuality in Merleau-Ponty\'s phenomenology.\" In order to carry out such an attempt, we chose the phenomenological qualitative methodology, under Merleau-Pontys theoretical assumptions. The collaborators were contacted according to the procedure Snowball. A total of five students were interviewed: three transsexuals, one intersexual and one drag queen, and five teachers, one man and four women, who have had, or have, students in their classes who experience sexual diversity. In the reports of all the collaborating students it has arisen 5 categories: In the horizons of the family; The school trajectory: from elementary to middle school; In the horizons of the University; and Life project. In a unique way, in the transsexual students\' reports emerged the category: World-transsexual life; for the intersexual student emerged the category Intersexual World-Life; and in the report of the student drag queen emerged the category World-life Drag Queen. And for the teachers emerged 4 categories: The perceived body; Sexual and gender diversity in the University; In the horizons of teaching, and intersubjectivity and consciousness. The reports of our collaborators and their teachers reveal that the world-lives of these students are immersed in stigma and suffering. There are many challenges to effective inclusive education for sexual and gender diversity. Transformations need to reach all levels of education, from elementary school, through high school and, finally, to higher education

This paper examines the moderating effect of national culture on the relationship betweenboard gender diversity and corporate financial performance. To test the hypotheses, FixedEffects regression is used in combination with a sample of 1,499 firms from 23 countries and7,125 firm-year observations over a time frame of seven years. This paper provides evidencefor a significant positive effect of board gender diversity on firm performance if there are atleast three females seated on the board. Furthermore, a significant moderating effect ofnational culture on the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance hasbeen found.