Authors: Panagiota Galetsi, Lyda Kyrgidou, Korina Katsaliaki

Title: Gender diversity in Boards. Evidence from the Greek context

Abstract

In view of acts in Europe that promote women as boardroom members and enchase gender equality in Boards of Directors (BoDs) we examined perceptions of Greek individuals as to the representativeness of women in such positions. Relying on corporate governance theories and through the collected data of the investigated firms we also aim to map the situation in Greek Boardrooms in a 5 year period (2012 -2016) and to provide new evidence on the relationship between women presence in BoDs and company performance. A quantitative analysis has been achieved firstly by distributing a questionnaire about perceptions of Greek society and secondly by providing percentages of males and females members of the boards of the largest Greek firms. Findings demonstrate that in light of established firm and social related idiosyncrasies in the Greek context there is indeed a related gap as to females’ representation in BoDs in Greek firms (almost 10%for the 5 year period). This study constitutes one among the first studies that attempt to present the Greek situation regarding the representation of women in boardrooms and also provides new evidence regarding the relationship between Board gender diversity and firm performance, drawing important implications for academics, practitioners and policy makers alike.