Inclusive Leadership and CEO Gender: The Role of Tenure and Education in an Emerging Economy

ABSTRACT Gender inequality in corporate leadership remains a critical challenge, particularly in emerging economies where institutional constraints shape access to top executive positions. This study examines firm performance differences between women and men CEOs in Ecuador, focusing on the moderating roles of tenure and formal education. We analyse an unbalanced panel of 1912 firm‐year observations from 662 manufacturing firms (2016–2020), employing system‐GMM with propensity score matching to address endogeneity. The results show that performance differences between women and men CEOs depend on CEO attributes. Female‐led firms display higher average financial performance at early stages of CEO tenure and when CEOs have lower levels of formal education; however, these differences disappear as tenure and formal education increase, suggesting convergence in financial leadership effectiveness. These findings highlight the importance of considering interaction effects and offer a context‐sensitive perspective on leadership diversity, with implications for firms and policymakers promoting more inclusive governance.