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Gender diversity within the workforce in the microfinance industry in Africa: Economic performance and sustainability
Author(s) -
Augustine Darline,
Wheat Christopher O.,
Jones Kisha S.,
Baraldi Monica,
Malgwi Charles A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
canadian journal of administrative sciences / revue canadienne des sciences de l'administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.347
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1936-4490
pISSN - 0825-0383
DOI - 10.1002/cjas.1365
Subject(s) - microfinance , workforce , sustainability , diversity (politics) , business , data envelopment analysis , gender diversity , economics , economic growth , finance , political science , mathematical optimization , mathematics , ecology , corporate governance , law , biology
This study examines the relationship of gender diversity within the workforce and the sustainability of economic performance within the microfinance industry in Africa as compared to the rest of the world. Measuring economic performance helps to demonstrate whether resources are effectively utilized to achieve social performance objectives. We use ROA—the most common measure of profit for financial institutions—to capture financial performance, and OpEx—the most widely used indicator of efficiency—to capture operating efficiency. We measure gender diversity within the microfinance workforce at two hierarchical levels. Our analysis of a data set of 1,389 observations in 1,053 firms suggests that gender diversity enhances economic performance, especially in Africa. We propose that policymakers and practitioners consider these results to determine how to best deploy women within the microfinance workforce to deliver sustainable economic performance. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.