Gender Equality in Sustainability Reporting: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Gender equality is one of the Sustainable Development Goals and companies are key actors that need to disclose any progress made towards this goal. But we lack a clear understanding of the specifics of gender equality reporting in previous empirical research. We conducted a systematic literature review of empirical articles until year 2022 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases following the PRISMA guidelines. We found that most studies that examine gender equality reporting in companies usually do not follow a specific set of reporting guidelines and that the indicators employed are often limited to diversity in the highest governance body and committees, women in leadership and workforce gender representation. Also, we observed a lack of methodological diversity in previous studies. As a result, we have identified several gaps and propose various research lines to further advance research in the field. Additionally, we suggest policy and managerial implications to accelerate the growth of gender-sensitive reporting.