The determinants of women’s involvement in top management teams: Opportunities or obstacles for family-controlled firms?

Although the contribution of TMTs’ diversity, and especially of gender diversity, to firm performance is increasingly acknowledged, the context of family firms is virtually unexplored and the few gender studies available in the family business field focus on female family members. This study is the first to investigate the impact of family nature (measured by family ownership and family CEOs) and on female CEOS on gender diversity in TMTs, as well as to look at gender diversity in terms of both family and non-family women’s presence. Results of a survey based on a representative sample of medium and large Italian family-controlled firms show that: 1) family ownership positively predicts presence of women within TMTs in general, and especially presence of non-family women; 2) family CEOs and female CEOs positively predict the presence of family women within the TMTs; 3) family CEOs negatively predict the presence of non-family women in TMTs. In summation, the family nature of the firm seems influence gender diversity, but to the main benefit of family women, and the same happens with presence of female CEOs (who almost all resulted to belong to the owning family). This integrates upper echelon and diversity literature streams with family-firm specific evidence. A contribution is also offered to family business literature, as survey results help clarify the ambivalence that has emerged so far about owning families and women as possible determinants of female presence in executive positions. Implications for further studies and family firms’ practice are highlighted as well.