Female Presence on Corporate Boards: A Multi-Country Study of Environmental Context Siri Terjesen Val Singh ABSTRACT. A growing body of ethics research inves- tigates gender diversity and governance on corporate boards, at individual and firm levels, in single country studies. In this study, we explore the environmental context of female representation on corporate boards of directors, using data from 43 countries. We suggest that women’s representation on corporate boards may be shaped by the larger environment, including the social, political and economic structures of individual countries. We use logit regression to conduct our analysis. Our results indicate that countries with higher representation of women on boards are more likely to have women in senior management and more equal ratios of male to female pay. However, we find that countries with a longer tradition of women’s political representation are less likely to have high levels of female board representation. KEY WORDS: corporate boards, environmental con- text, female directors, gender, multi-country, pay gap, political representation ABBREVIATIONS: EC: European Commission; EU: European Union; FTSE: Financial Times Stock Exchange; ILO: International Labor Organization; OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; UK: United Kingdom; UNDP: United Nations Development Programme; USA: United States; WEU: Women and Equality Unit Introduction Although women are joining the labour force in increasing numbers around the world (Economist, 2006), they remain proportionately under-repre- sented in the top tiers of management (ILO, 2004). In particular, the lack of female representation on corporate boards of directors is a global phenome- non. Women comprise less than 15% of corporate board members in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and many European countries, but as low as 0.2% in some Asian countries. A growing body of research in business ethics explores gender diversity and cor- porate governance, focusing on micro-level studies of the characteristics of female board members, their boards and firms and the effects of gender diversity. Our research extends the extant person- and situa- tion-centred discussions to consider environmental explanations. Gender diversity in management is said to provide a number of benefits, including new ideas and improved communication (Milliken and Martins, 1996), insights on female market segmentation (Daily et al., 1999) and transformational manage- ment style (Rosener, 1990). These competencies are particularly critical in a global world, where women also play active roles as entrepreneurs, managers and consumers (Economist, 2006). Adler (1997) emphasised the importance of having women as well as men in the global talent pool in order to identify the next generation of leaders in the global society. Wise global leaders need the ability to work inter- actively and sensitively with leaders from other cultures, and Adler highlights how some women global leaders use influence and inspiration, rather than command and control to achieve their goals. Furthermore, female board members represent career opportunities for potential female employees (Bilimoria, 2006), inspire women employees to se- nior management roles (Bilimoria and Wheeler, 2000) and often engage in networking and men- toring of women through corporate networks. These positive spillovers may extend outside the firm. For example, law firms whose key clients have women on their boards are more likely to promote Journal of Business Ethics Ó Springer 2008 DOI 10.1007/s10551-007-9656-1