Gender At The Helm: Examining The Relationship between The CEO Gender and ESG Performance in S&P 500 Companies

Abstract

Gender diversity in corporate leadership and ESG performance represents a critical research area in accounting and economics. While organizations face mounting pressure to demonstrate sustainable business practices, the persistent underrepresentation of women in executive positions presents a unique opportunity to examine how leadership characteristics influence corporate sustainability outcomes. The present study examines the relationship between chief executive officers (CEOs') gender and ESG component performance among S&P 500 companies, specifically investigating whether female leadership influences the environmental, social, and governance dimensions differently and testing hypotheses derived from upper echelon theory, stakeholder theory, and agency theory. The analysis employs a comprehensive dataset of 426 S&P 500 companies over 2022-2023, including 36 female-led and 390 male-led companies. Multiple regression models are utilized to analyze the relationship between CEO gender and ESG component scores while controlling for factors such as company size, profitability, leverage, year effects, and industry fixed effects. Robustness checks encompass propensity score matching and year-specific analyses. Female chief executive officers demonstrate a marked tendency to outperform their male counterparts in terms of social ESG dimensions while concurrently demonstrating underperformance in the environmental and governance dimensions. The net effect of these offsetting factors is that there is no significant difference in overall ESG scores. The findings remain consistent across robustness checks and suggest that female leadership prioritizes stakeholder-oriented social initiatives while allocating relatively fewer resources to environmental and governance improvements. The study revealed that the impact of CEO gender on ESG performance is not uniform across all components, but rather, it is component-specific. This finding supports theoretical predictions about gender-differentiated leadership styles and strategic priorities. The findings have important implications for corporate governance practices, investor decision-making, and policy development in the evolving landscape of corporate sustainability. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.