Vertical segregation, innovation, and gender diversity in Spain’s industrial sector

Abstract

Innovation is a general measure of the success of a company and shows a positive relationship with several key factors such as collaboration with universities and technology centers or belonging to medium- and high-tech sectors. While many studies have found that gender diversity in company management teams has a positive influence on companies’ economic success, few have focused on the impact that the inclusion of women in the board of directors has on product, process, and organizational innovation. This paper builds on previous knowledge about the determinants of innovations and shows that greater gender management team diversity, compared to male-only teams, positively affects the achievement of said innovations.