Exploring the Power of Gender Diversity in Boardrooms on Corporate Risk-Taking

This study investigates the relationship between gender diversity on boards of directors and their risk-taking. This study examines the influence by analyzing a sample of 602 non-financial enterprises operating in North and Latin American regions from the Refinitiv Eikon platform throughout the period from 2013 to 2023. The research applied the Tobit regression analysis to investigate the impact of several sectors (Energy, Industrials, Information Technology, Communication Services and Utilities). The results demonstrate that several factors, such as board size, gender diversity, leverage, independent directors, firm size and tangibility interact with the dependent variable - stock return variability. The result shows a positive significant impact between stock return and leverage and independent directors. On the other hand, board gender diversity, board size, tangibility and firm size have a significant negative relationship with stock return variability. The implication from the study is that larger board size, better gender diversity, high tangibility and larger firms tend to stabilize stock returns and assist in risk management, whereas high leverage and more independent directors tend to increase the risk. Therefore, it is recommended that firms invest in larger board sizes, diversify their boardrooms, maintain high tangible assets and firm growth to stabilize stock returns.