Demographic diversity (e.g., gender, age, race, ethnicity) in strategic leadership teams (i.e., boards of directors and top management teams) has received global attention recently. Policymakers have promoted diversity policies by citing the “business case” for diversity that suggests a positive (causal) effect on firm performance. Our focus is twofold: First, we systematically evaluate the methodological rigor of 64 studies on the relationship between strategic leadership team demographic diversity and firm performance (1994–2023) from Financial Times (FT) 50 journals, finding that ca. 70 percent show implausible causal effects, ca. 20 percent lack sufficient information, and only 11 percent (N = 7) demonstrate plausible causal effects. Second, we synthesize research findings of the seven studies. The five studies on gender diversity yield mixed results: some report positive or negative effects, whereas the majority finds no effects on firm performance. Regarding ancestral and genetic diversity, the studies support the business case argument. Overall, our review provides three key insights: (1) a critical evaluation of the causal evidence regarding the business case for demographic diversity in strategic leadership teams, (2) a synthesis of the research findings by focusing on rigorously conducted studies, and (3) hands-on recommendations for refining future approaches for causal research.

中文翻译：

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战略领导团队人口多样性的商业案例：对因果证据的系统和批判性回顾


战略领导团队（即董事会和高层管理团队）的人口多样性（例如，性别、年龄、种族、民族）最近受到了全球的关注。政策制定者通过引用多元化的“商业案例”来促进多元化政策，这表明对公司绩效有积极（因果）影响。我们的重点有两个方面：首先，我们系统地评估了来自金融时报 （FT） 50 种期刊的 64 项关于战略领导团队人口多样性与公司绩效（1994-2023 年）之间关系的研究的方法严谨性，发现大约 70% 的研究显示出难以置信的因果效应，大约 20% 缺乏足够的信息，只有 11% （N = 7） 表现出合理的因果效应。其次，我们综合了 7 项研究的研究结果。关于性别多样性的五项研究得出的结果喜忧参半：一些报告了积极或消极的影响，而大多数研究发现对公司绩效没有影响。关于祖先和遗传多样性，这些研究支持商业案例论点。总体而言，我们的综述提供了三个关键见解：（1） 对战略领导团队中人口多样性商业案例的因果证据进行批判性评估，（2） 通过专注于严格进行的研究来综合研究结果，以及 （3） 为完善未来因果研究方法的实践建议。