Abstract:

Changing organisational inclusiveness requires advocacy at the top. But advocacy can be costly. We examine how the costs of advocacy affect the likelihood a board member speaks about diversity issues in board discussions. We exploit the public availability of 5,298 board meeting minutes of 146 UK National Health Service hospital trusts between 2014 and 2021 to identify when individual trust directors speak about diversity issues. Female and ethnic minority directors are more likely to discuss diversity issues. However, directors are less likely to discuss issues related to their own minority background. The focus of individual discussions shifts when society places more importance on diversity and individuals become more powerful. Advocacy appears to be less costly when there is greater societal pressure for diversity, directors are not tokens, and female leaders initiate more diversity discussions. Our results highlight that relying on lived experience is not sufficient to ensure organisations become more inclusive.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Corporate Governance

Keywords: Boards of Directors and Top Management Teams ;Corporate Governance in sectors, such as sports governance, blue governance, supply chain, public sector (education, governments, NGOs, etc.);Sustainable governance (SDG goals) ;Evolving Governance (fit for future)

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Dr. Thomas Mosk