Female CEOs and the internationalization of Vietnamese SMEs: how important is CEO experience?

Purpose Despite growing calls for gender diversity in corporate governance, empirical evidence on how female CEOs shape strategic decisions such as international expansion remains inconclusive. This research aims to analyze the influence of female CEOs on the degree of internationalization, with CEO experience serving as a moderating factor. Design/methodology/approach The data are derived from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys in 2023, encompassing 856 Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises. The paper adopted multivariate analysis, including the Ordinary Least Squares with fixed effects and Method of Moments Quantile Regression, to address the research questions. Findings SMEs managed by female CEOs derive about 3% more of their sales from exports than firms led by male CEOs, facilitating the internationalization process of Vietnam's SMEs. Importantly, CEO experience serves as a moderating factor, intensifying the internationalization effect of female CEOs. However, this amplifying effect becomes pronounced only when the CEO's experience exceeds a threshold of 15 years. Strikingly, this mechanism is more pronounced among SMEs with a high degree of internationalization than among those with low or moderate levels. Practical implications Businesses seeking greater internationalization may benefit from promoting gender diversity in leadership, alongside CEOs' qualifications and relevant experience. Policymakers can use these insights to design programs supporting SME leadership development. Originality/value This paper reveals the threshold effect of CEO experience on the internationalization effect of female CEOs through the intersection of the Agency Theory, the Upper Echelons Theory, and the Uppsala model.