New Rationales for Women on Boards

Should measures promoting women to corporate boards be solely justified in terms of economic arguments? Traditionally, such measures have tended to rely on utilitarian arguments, despite the fact that the most prominent of these arguments-the relationship between women's presence on boards and firm financial performance-is equivocal. Conversely, this article argues that rationales for increasing women on boards should be based on both equality and economics grounds. An equality rationale is necessary as it clarifies the underlying issues which have given rise to the lack of women on boards as well as enables female representation to be valued in its own right, instead of in terms of business reform. At the same time, an economic rationale remains necessary in order to convince ardent sceptics. Yet because the most prominent rationale is ambivalent, a new economic rationale is needed. This article proposes that the new rationale be drawn from strategic management theory to focus on the contributions women can make to the board decision-making process.