The Effects of Women on Boards on Financial Performance: Literature Review

Corporate governance has become a concept that has increased in importance since the early 2000s. In particular, corporate governance practices have gained importance in increasing competition power. Accounting scandals (Enron, Parmalat, etc.) revealed that corporate governance practices are inadequate. In this study, it was aimed to search the literature about the effect of the number of women’s board members on the financial performance of the operator. The paper was based on internationally indexed journals between 1993 and 2015. As a result of the study, it is seen that besides the studies finding a positive relationship between the number of women’s board members and firm performance, there are studies that determine that female members have a negative effect on firm performance. In the literature, there are writers who suggest that the increase in women's board members will increase the independence of the board and that women's board members will perform better in solving group problem solving and discussions that require discussion and consensus. In contrast, other writers; they argued that conflicts would increase and the decision-making processes would slow down if the number of female members increased within the board of directors