Women on Indian boards and market performance: A role-congruity theory perspective

Abstract

Drawing on role-congruity theory, we explore the role of female board members in Indian firms. We find that the impact of female board members on market performance is positive for widely held high-tech firms, but negative in non-high-tech firms and high-tech firms that are family-controlled. Our results suggest that the relationship between female representation on Indian boards and market performance hinges on the (in)congruity between societally defined female gender roles and the expected characteristics of leadership.