The Role of Gender and Human Capital on the Appointment of New Corporate Directors to Boardroom Committees: Canadian Evidence

Abstract

This study investigates the appointment of new corporate directors to various boardroom committees. Resource dependency and institutional theory provide theoretical reasons for why gender and human capital characteristics would differentiate committee membership. Using a matched sample of 159 women and 159 men during the period 1996 to 2004, this study finds that new female corporate directors are better utilized than their male counterparts. In their first year of joining a board, these new female corporate directors are appointed to both major and minor board committees, while the majority of the new male directors are appointed to no board committees. Overall, this study finds that gender rather than human capital characteristics determines the boardroom committee membership of new corporate directors.