The impact of board gender diversity on healthcare financial performance during Covid- 19: Evidence from Italian Healthcare Organizations

Over the past few decades, European institutions and policymakers have promot-ed gender diversity in management and strategic leadership roles. Prior literature has highlighted the importance of board gender diversity; neverthe-less, previous studies have mainly focused on the private sector, while the public sector – particularly the healthcare sector – remains under-investigated. Hence, to fill this gap, the present paper aims to examine the impact of board gen-der diversity on Italian public health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the calls for more excellent representation of women in leadership roles. The research methodology uses an OLS linear regression model to examine the re-lationship between the number of women in top positions in Italian Healthcare Or-ganizations (roles of general, administrative, and health managers) and their fi-nancial and non-financial performance. Results show that women's involvement in governance positively impacts the per-formance of Italian healthcare organisations, while no significant association has emerged regarding non-financial performance. This study could represent a starting point for implementing measures that focus on the health sector. The sector has been experiencing a severe crisis for years and, therefore, needs innovative strategies for its relaunch.