Board gender diversity, women leadership and the ESG: mapping the state of the art trends and future direction

Purpose This review assesses the environmental, social and governance (ESG) knowledge structure and its relationship to women's leadership and board gender diversity in firms' corporate agendas. The pertinent issue of women and gender equality in organizations has been extensively addressed in the literature, warranting a holistic and comprehensive analysis. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the bibliometric approach, a science mapping analysis based on two techniques was applied to evaluate the impact of ESG on organizational diversity. Findings Current and emerging trends are associated with (1) Gender diversity and its impact on ESG disclosure, (2) Gender diversity and organizations' ESG performance and (3) Bank Financial performance based on gender diversity. Future trends primarily revolve around ESG's impact on organizational performance. Research limitations/implications As gender diversity has been heavily considered, if not mandatory, in ESG reporting, this issue remains a highly sensitive subject. Implications would be imminent for large corporations and the larger business ecosystem. Originality/value This study's originality lies in its science mapping approach, which uncovers the current and future trends of board gender diversity, women leadership and its association with ESG and firm performance.