Gender Equity in Corporate Boards: A Sustainability Goal for European Companies

The board of directors has a considerable role in the achievement of sustainable company’s goals, according with the UN 2030 Agenda. The gender diversity in corporate boards seems to have impact on corporate sustainability objectives and strategies; furthermore, the promotion of gender equity in corporate boards is considered one of the tool to support the gender diversity in society as a whole. The scarce presence of women on boards is not justified by their supposed lower educational background, so, in the last decade, many European countries decided to promote mandatory or voluntary initiatives and a proposal of Directive is under attention by European Commission. Our analysis, using secondary data in the period 2000-2016, lead us to affirm that only the awareness by companies for sustainability is the real driver for the gender equity in boards of directors.