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Cognition and gender diversity in top management teams: what do we know and where do we go?

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Abstract

This paper reviews research on cognition and gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) with a focus on identifying linkages among those two constructs. We suggest that while TMTs in general have attracted extensive research attention, the linkages between TMT cognition and gender diversity offer a largely neglected vantage point for understanding TMT decision-making, and feature opportunities for theoretical and methodological progress. This review of studies published in FT-50 journals from 1990 to 2022 is focused on how team gender diversity affects team cognition—building on the notion that teams are more than the aggregation of their elements. By developing a stage-based research agenda, we derive intriguing research questions that help exploring the cognition–diversity link in teams at different stages of the decision-making process.

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Notes

  1. Cabo, Gimeno, and Nieto (2012) summarize minimum quotas for female board representation across Europe: 40% in Spanish listed firms by 2015, 40% in French listed firms by 2017, 30% in Italian-listed and state-owned enterprises by 2015, and 30% in Dutch firms by 2016.

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  1. Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK

    Fabian Müller-Horn & Demola Obembe

  2. Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave. W (LH 4095D), Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada

    Sebastian P. L. Fourné

  3. John F. Wood Chair in Entrepreneurship, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 1M8, Canada

    Felix Arndt

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Müller-Horn, F., Fourné, S.P.L., Arndt, F. et al. Cognition and gender diversity in top management teams: what do we know and where do we go?. Manag Rev Q 74, 567–596 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-022-00310-8

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