Does Female Representation on Boards of Directors Associate with Fortune's 100 'Best Companies' List

Authors

Richard A. Bernardi, Roger Williams UniversityFollow
Susan M. Bosco, Roger Williams UniversityFollow
Katie M. Vassill, Premcor Refining Group, Inc., Old Greenwich, CT

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Comments

Published in: Business and Society , Vol. 45, No. 2, 2006

Abstract

This study examines the influence of women in business using a sample of firms on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and is an extension of Bernardi et al.'s work. We use the data from Bernardi et al. to determine whether a higher representation of women on a board signals an increased commitment of a firm to a quality environment and employment characteristics necessary to establish the firm on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Our findings include a significant increase in the number of female directors on Fortune 500 companies between 1977 and 2001. The initial analysis of the 27 firms appearing on both Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and the Fortune 500 in 2001 indicates a positive correlation between the number of female directors and a company's appearance on the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

Recommended Citation

Bernardi, Richard A., Bosco, S. M., & Vassill, K. M. 2006. "Does Female Representation on Boards of Directors Associate with Fortune's 100 'Best Companies' List." Business and Society 45 (2), 235-248.