Gender diversity in corporate governance: a bibliometric analysis and research agenda

Purpose - This paper aims to examine literature on corporate governance from the gender perspective adopting the two novel approaches: bibliometric analysis and content analysis. Design/methodology/approach - For citation mapping and comprehensive content analysis, total 393 Web of Science indexed journal articles were selected. Initially, this study identifies the most productive authors, journal sources, countries and affiliation within the study topic. Findings - Findings from the intellectual structure explore four underlying research stems in the corporate governance and gender literature: participation of women on corporate boards and their characteristics, women directors and their roles in board across different countries, gender diversity in the board and corporate social responsibility and firm financial performances, risks and stock prices. Originality/value - From the content analysis, it is revealed that corporate governance and gender studies have predominantly investigated the gender diversity issues as a catalyst of corporate governance, with a focus on women on corporate boards and firm financial performance, risks and stock price, while the area of board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility remains relatively under-researched.