THE IMPACT OF BOARD GENDER DIVERSITY ON SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIAN FIRMS: THE ROLE OF TOP EXECUTIVE GENDER

The purpose of this paper is to argue the relationship between sustainability performance, the top executive gender, and the board gender diversity. This study examines the moderates’ effect of top executive gender on the relation between the board gender diversity and sustainability performance. The study investigates the relation between the board gender diversity, the sustainability performance and the top executive of a sample of 78 Malaysian firms over the 2010–2019 period. The results obtained show that, for Malaysian companies, a higher percentage of female members of the board is positively associated with performance sustainability in firms with a higher percentage of women in the top management team. The findings may be of interest to academic researchers, investors, regulators, and professional accounting bodies as it shows legislative reforms in regulating the composition of their boards.