TY - JOUR T1 - Diverse Boards, Stronger Results? Gender Diversity on Boards and Firm Performance in Turkey AU - Bahar, Belgin AU - Yılmaz Altuntaş, Elgiz PY - 2025 DA - August Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.26650/JEPR1716025 JF - İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi JO - JEPR PB - Istanbul University WT - DergiPark SN - 2148-3876 SP - 519 EP - 527 VL - 12 IS - 2 LA - en AB - Board diversity has become a prominent topic of discussion within the realm of strategic management. This study specifically examines gender diversity as a key dimension of board heterogeneity. Notably, women remain under represented on corporate boards in general. In Turkey, the inclusion of women on corporate boards and efforts to enhance gender diversity are relatively recent developments. In 2012, for the first time in Turkey, the Capital Markets Board recommended that companies have at least one woman on their boards of directors. This study examines the effectiveness of Turkey’s first “soft law” quota concerning board gender diversity within the banking sector. Additionally, it investigates the relationship between gender diversity on corporate boards and firms’ financial performance (ROA). Using a large panel data of 12 banks from 2006 to 2018, we found a significant relationship between female representation on boards and ROA.JEL Classification : J16 , G34 , M14 KW - Female board representation KW - Financial performance KW - Board diversity KW - Corporate governance CR - Adams, R. B., & Ferreira, D. (2009). Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance. Journal of Financial Economics, 94(2), 291-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.10.007 google scholar CR - Atılgan, Ö. (2017). Yönetim kurulu büyüklüğü, bağımsız üye oranı ve kadın üye oranı ile finansal performans ilişkisi. Dokuz Eylül Üniver^ sitesi İktisadi İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 32(2), 315-354. google scholar CR - Bear, S., Rahman, N., & Post, C. (2010). The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation, Journal of Business Ethics, 97(2), 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0505-2 google scholar CR - Beiner, S., Drobetz, W., Schmid, F., & Zimmermann, H. (2004). Is board size an independent corporate governance mechanism?. Kyk^ los, 57(3), 327-356. google scholar CR - Carter, D. A., D'Souza, F., Simkins, B. J., & Simpson, W. G. (2010). The gender and ethnic diversity of US boards and board committees and firm financial performance. Corporate governance: an international review, 18(5), 396-414. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683. 2010.00809.x google scholar CR - Karayel, M & Doğan, M. (2014). Yönetim kurulunda cinsiyet çeşitliliği ve finansal performans ilişkisi: BİST 100 şirketlerinde bir araştırma. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 19(2), 75-88. google scholar CR - Liu, Y., Wei, Z., & Xie, F. (2014). Do women directors improve firm performance in google scholar CR - China?. Journal of Corporate Finance, 28, 169-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2013.11.016 google scholar CR - Lucas-Pérez, M. E., Mínguez-Vera, A., Baixauli-Soler, J. S., Martín-Ugedo, J. F., & Sánchez-Marín, G. (2015). Women on the board and managers’ pay: Evidence from Spain. Journal of Business Ethics, 129, 265-280. google scholar CR - Nair, N., & Vohra, N. (2015). Diversity and inclusion at the workplace: a review of research and perspectives. IIMA Working Paper Series No WP2015-03-34. google scholar CR - Reddy, S., & Jadhav, A. M. (2019). Gender diversity in boardrooms–A literature review. Cogent Economics & Finance, 7(1), 1644703. https:// doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2019.1644703 google scholar CR - Rose, C. (2007). Does female board representation influence firm performance? The Danish evidence. Corporate governance: An inter^ national review, 15(2), 404-413. google scholar CR - Sarhan, A. A., Ntim, C. G., & Al‐Najjar, B. (2019). Board diversity, corporate governance, corporate performance, and executive pay. Inter^ national Journal of Finance & Economics, 24(2), 761-786. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.1690 google scholar CR - Taşkın, D., & Mandacı, P. E. (2017). Şirket Yönetim Kurulu’ndaki Kadın Üyelerin Firma Performansına Etkisi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İşletme Fakültesi Dergisi, 18(1), 29-45. google scholar CR - Terjesen, S., Aguilera, R. V., & Lorenz, R. (2015). Legislating a woman’s seat on the board: Institutional factors driving gender quotas for boards of directors, Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), 233–251. google scholar UR - https://doi.org/10.26650/JEPR1716025 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4943300 ER -