Board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility: A bibliometric analysis

The objective of this study to analyze developments in relating to board gender diversity (BGD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) research and provide future researchers with new avenues for research in the field. A bibliometric analysis was conducted by focusing on the most productive articles, authors, journals, institutions, sponsors, and countries and as co-occurrence analyses based on 1961 peer-reviewed articles published between January 1966 and April 2021 in the Scopus database. Results revealed that the number of publications relevant to BGD and CSR has been gradually increasing, and a significant increase has been observed since 2010. Keywords such as “gender,” “gender equality,” “sustainable development,” and “corporate social responsibility” reveal the key themes in BGD and CSR research. Cluster analysis revealed three clusters: Cluster 1 focused primarily on the board composition and board structure, Cluster 2 focused on board composition and its connection to CSR or philanthropy, and Cluster 3 (comprising more recent articles) mainly stressed the impact of gender diversity on CSR or sustainability initiatives. Results also provided different implications with future research directions. It reveals the collaboration between authors in conducting research in the domain of BGD and CSR is still lacking, suggesting further research in collaboration different authors in CSR and BGD. Journal of business ethics, Corporate governance: an international review, and Academy of management journal were the top-ranking journals in term of source co-citation, and thus journals ought to be further expanded more research in CSR and BGD to enhance their source co-citations. The most productive sponsors and institutions were in developed countries, while country co-authorship analysis revealed more research need to cooperatively be undertaken in developing countries.