Catering to their pleasure: female employees and corporate philanthropy

Purpose The paper aims to examine how employee gender diversity shapes corporate philanthropy (CP) as a strategic employee governance tool. Drawing on stakeholder salience theory, the authors argue that firms in female-dominated industries are more motivated to use CP to appeal to women employees, who are more responsive to such initiatives. They further explore how this effect is moderated by employee human capital, organizational slack and board gender composition, highlighting conditions under which firms adjust philanthropic strategies to engage employees effectively and manage intra-stakeholder heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009–2020 and uses Tobit regression to examine the relationship between female employee representation and CP. CP is measured by firms’ charitable contributions reported in financial statements, while female employee representation is proxied by industry classification (female-dominated vs others). To address potential endogeneity and ensure robustness, propensity score matching is applied. Findings The paper provides empirical insights confirms that firms in female-dominated industries exhibit significantly higher levels of CP. This effect strengthens when employees have higher education or firms possess greater slack resources, but weakens with increased board gender diversity. Originality/value The paper addresses how gender-specific stakeholder pressures shape CP. It shows that intra-employee gender heterogeneity drives CP, refining stakeholder salience theory by demonstrating how employee composition influences firm strategies. It also uncovers a countervailing effect of female directors, who may reduce the influence of female employees on CP, challenging assumptions of gender-aligned governance. By integrating stakeholder salience theory with gender dynamics, the study offers theoretical insights and practical guidance for firms seeking to use CP strategically to engage employees and manage intra-stakeholder heterogeneity.