Researchers from Surrey Business School examined how firms with more women within senior leadership teams performed on the adoption of environmental standards and how these women’s personal attributes contributed to the adoption of these standards.

Professor Tazeeb Rajwani, co-author of the study and Head of the Department of Strategy and International Business at the University of Surrey, says that they “found that the simple presence of women on top management teams results in companies adopting progressive environmental standards, particularly when women executives have personal power, are members of corporate social responsibility committees, and work in gender-egalitarian countries.”

“As a result, women are motivated to express their unique perspective in organizational and institutional contexts that accept and support the distinctiveness associated with their diversity.”

Using data from 490 firms in three highly polluted emerging countries (China, India and Pakistan), the research found that the proportion of women in top management teams (TMTs) is positively related to the likelihood of that company adopting the International Organization for Standardizations’ ISO 14001 certification and renewal—a recognized and respected framework used by organizations to measure their environmental impact.  

Professor Rajwani continued: “In recent years, firms from emerging countries have been increasingly scrutinized for wrongdoing, particularly in relation to the natural environment. Stakeholders and the general public are more comfortable with taking actions to discourage environmentally destructive practices.”

“For example, investors in most countries now discount the share prices of firms that cause environmental damage; governments introduce regulations that impose pollution levies; and consumers use organizational environmental behavior as a criterion for making purchase decisions.”

The research was published in the Journal of Business Research.