The board of directors advises companies in the development and long-term strategies. Today women represent a minority on the board of directors but represent over half of the world’s human capacity. Consequently, it indicates that companies do not take full advantage of the pool of talents. Furthermore, as big an organization as FN made it clear that women’s participation in decision-making organs is crucial for achieving sustainable development. That underpins the importance of women’s participation in the decision-making organs. This master thesis investigates the relation between female board members and companies’ sustainability performance.
In the study, a series of interviews and a survey were conducted, used for analyzing women’s contributions on boards. An ongoing discussion is presented, which explains the link between women on the board of directors and the company’s sustainability performance. The discussion and the analysis are guided by women’s influence on boards and the critical factors behind this influence. Ground Theory is used as a methodology tool for guiding the scientific research. Moreover, theories are used as a reference point for unfolding the discussion. In the last part of the research, this is brought into the context of limiting factors, which are considered to understand women’s contribution to the companies’ sustainability performance.
Women are often associated with certain values, such as being holistically minded and empathic, which many consider feminine values. These values are important to sustainable development, as sustainability has more dimensions, and focuses on the next generation. Men and women’s contributions cannot be divided into a binary system, they each have the potential to contribute with both feminine and masculine values. The labor market is based on masculine values, which currently dominate. In this report it is suggested, that to achieve increased sustainable performance, feminine values must be present. Because of socialization, women represent the feminine values, and their presence on boards will balance the feminine and masculine values. It creates an opening for the board of directors to gain a different set of values, which opens to sustainable perspectives.