When a corporation’s board of directors has more women in positions of power, the organization’s workplace safety improves, according to new a study led by scholars at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, in partnership with Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
The study authors examined data regarding 266 firms from 2002 to 2011. They analyzed 1,442 unique observations relating to OHSA workplace safety, director-level variables, and any fines and penalties received from U.S. regulatory agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice, state and other regulatory agencies, and state attorneys general.
Notably, the authors found that simply adding more women to corporate boards does not necessarily increase workplace safety. However, their research revealed that when women directors are in powerful board positions or on key board committees, they are more likely to prioritize and enhance workplace safety programs, exhibit more risk aversion, and favor regulatory compliance. Increases in women’s board representation also increases workplace safety in firms with more male board representation and in firms where boards face greater accountability pressures.
In an empirical extension of their primary findings, the authors examined workplace safety trends in firms with greater representation of nonwhite board members and found a similar result. Furthermore, the authors found a synergistic effect between women and nonwhite board members, highlighting that multiple forms of diversity among corporate boards leads to safer workplaces.
“While boards have become more diverse over the last few decades, organizations still struggle to achieve and maintain gender and racial/ethnic diversity on their boards of directors,” the authors write. “Findings from our study provide evidence about the value that gender and racial/ethnic diversity can bring to organizations and encourage firms not just to appoint (more) women and racial/ethnic minorities to their board of directors, but also to give them positions on important board committees.”