Signaling gender diversity through annual report pictures: A research note on image management

This research examines the differences in presentation of boards of directors in annual reports. Our sample consists of 472 corporations from the Fortune 500; 130 (342) of these corporations included (did not include) pictures of their boards of directors. The proportion of female directors was 11.0 percent for firms that did not include pictures of their boards and 14.5 percent for firms that included pictures of their boards in their annual reports. The difference in the gender mix of these two groups is significant (p = 0.0002). This indicates that firms with a higher percentage of women on their boards signal this fact to stockholders, investors, and other constituents by including pictures of their boards in their annual reports.