Board Gender Diversity and ESG Performance: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The relationship between board gender diversity (BGD) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance remains inconclusive, yielding conflicting paradoxes and unresolved theoretical tensions. To address this theoretical and empirical vagueness, this study provides a comprehensive synthesis of the BGD and ESG performance nexus across aggregate and its pillar-level dimensions. Utilizing a rigorous, dual-methodological approach, following the PRISMA protocol, this research study analyzed 75 peer-reviewed articles for systematic literature review (SLR) and 35 empirical studies for meta-analysis, all retrieved from the Scopus database covering 2018 to 2025. The results confirm a robust positive association between BGD and aggregate ESG performance along with its pillars. Critically, the meta-analysis reveals significant heterogeneity across the studies, which suggests that this relationship is contingent upon contextual and methodological preferences. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research study is the first of its kind to investigate the impact of BGD on ESG performance by uniquely integrating meta-analysis and SLR evidence. Ultimately, this study reconciles conflicting findings in corporate governance literature and reports that BGD functions as an effective corporate governance mechanism translating into quantifiable sustainability outcomes.