Recent Study Underscores Importance of Gender Diversity in Leadership

Kim Reed Perell serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of the international digital advertising firm Amobee. A longtime corporate leader, Kim Reed Perell maintains an active interest in female leadership within the business world. 

A study on gender diversity conducted by researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics highlights the importance of gender diversity in corporate leadership. More specifically, it demonstrates that there is a positive correlation between the inclusion of women in leadership roles and company performance. 

The Peterson Institute examined 21,980 companies in 91 countries. Only half of the firms included in this study had women in leadership roles at all, making it difficult to discern exactly how diversity might boost performance. However, the research suggests that the more women a company has in its highest positions, the better it tends to fare. 

This study does not suggest that individual female leaders perform better than males in similar roles. Rather, the researchers concluded that it demonstrates the benefit of diversity. Other research, including a recent MSCI study, shows that homogenous groups are likely to confidently make erroneous decisions, while diverse groups tend to perform better.