Is female leadership related to the hiring of people with disabilities? Evidence from European firms

Purpose People with disabilities (PwD) continue to be underrepresented in the labour market despite worldwide legislation protecting their labour rights. Previous studies have shown that gender diversity at upper corporate levels may be positively related to the hiring of other diverse minority groups. Based on the “upper echelon” and “social role” theories, the present article endeavours to examine the manner in which the inclusion of PwD in organisations is influenced by gender diversity at two distinct levels: the firms' boards of directors and the top management teams (TMTs). Design/methodology/approach Our research setting is grounded in a panel dataset of 1,745 European public companies from all productive sectors for the period 2007–2018. We conducted a longitudinal study using this panel data, drawn from the Refinitiv ESG database of Thomson Reuters Eikon to test the hypotheses. Findings Our results support a positive and significant association between the gender diversity of the boards and TMTs and the proportion of PwD hired by each organisation. We expand knowledge regarding the effect of gender diversity in leadership on inclusive actions of business diversity, focusing on the specific dimension of disability. Originality/value We carried out a quantitative empirical study, which to our knowledge is the first to research this relationship at the two highest levels of a firm, analysing how the vulnerable group of PwD could benefit from the influence that women members of a board and TMT can exert to facilitate their hiring and take advantage of their talent and abilities, adopting an inclusive organisational culture.