Lingling Pan, Associate Professor of Business Administration
PhD, Temple University; PhD, Michigan State University
Why did you decide to set out on this research topic?
Women’s representation in top leadership roles at corporations has been increasing very slowly, but women still face biases and challenges in rising in corporate ranks. At the same time, there is research suggesting benefits of female leadership, both in senior corporate roles and on boards of directors.
There is limited research on the specific means through which female leaders provide advantages to firms. I aimed to contribute to this conversation by exploring how female top leaders advantage firms.
What were your key findings?
Existing research suggests that compared to males, females tend to exhibit more comprehensive information processing styles. Building on this logic, we propose and demonstrate that female board members broaden the scope of CEO strategic attention, or the range of strategic issues a CEO attends to.
Such a positive impact significantly enhances the firm’s long-term market performance. Through the key findings, we show that the interpersonal effects of gender-based information processing differences impact CEO attention significantly, even more significantly than the gender of the CEO does (i.e. intrapersonal effects).
How do the findings of your research contribute to your field?
Our findings contribute to our field in three important ways:
First, our study explains how female board members help companies perform better. Previous studies showed that companies benefit financially when women serve on their boards, but it wasn’t clear exactly how this happens. Our research explains that female directors help their company’s CEO consider a wider variety of strategic issues. This broader perspective improves company performance. In short, women on boards help CEOs think more broadly and strategically, leading to better business decisions.
Second, earlier studies looked at how men and women process information differently on their own. We expand on this idea by showing that these differences also affect how women influence others. Specifically, female directors share more diverse insights and perspectives, helping CEOs see a wider range of strategic opportunities. We found that the greatest benefit comes from how female directors influence CEOs rather than how CEOs think for themselves. Moreover, these positive effects depend on how open the CEO is to listening and interacting with board members.
Finally, we explain the influence of leader gender in a new way. Most prior research explained gender differences in leadership through stereotypes—for example, expecting women leaders to be more communal and men to be more agentic. We introduce a different explanation: men and women often think and process information differently. By highlighting these differences in information processing styles, we offer a new way of understanding how having more women in leadership roles can positively affect company outcomes.
How do your research findings contribute to society (locally, regionally, nationally, globally)?
Our research highlights the importance of gender diversity on corporate boards, showing that female directors can significantly enhance CEOs’ strategic decision-making. This leads to improved longer-term market performance for firms, advocating for more inclusive boardrooms. Ultimately, our findings support the broader societal goal of gender equality in leadership positions, fostering more effective and equitable business practices globally.
Aside from your research, what is the most exciting advancement in your field right now?
There have always been exciting advancements in strategy and management research, but the development that excites me most is the emerging trend involving research about artificial intelligence and research conducted using AI.
On one hand, researchers in my field have begun to investigate the profound impacts that artificial intelligence has on individuals and organizations. On the other hand, AI itself has opened up innovative opportunities to enhance research methods and designs.
For example, my own research largely relies on content and text analysis to examine how corporate leaders communicate, how organizations engage with stakeholders, and the distinctive attributes of top executives. Recent advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and AI have significantly expanded the types of concepts I can measure and improved the methods available to analyze them.
Is this research published anywhere yet?