FEMININE LEADERSHIP AND STAKEHOLDER ORIENTATION: UNRAVELING THE IMPACT OF FEMININITY IN FEMALE CEOS ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

Objective: Traditional gender norms have categorized leadership as feminine or masculine. However, growing evidence reveals that women leaders have a complex combination of these traits which affects their CSR (corporate social responsibility ) strategy. This study aims to test whether femininity (stakeholder orientation) changes the effect of female CEOs on CSR in Indonesia.   Method: This study samples Indonesia Stock Exchange-listed industrial companies from 2019 to 2021, resulting in 195 observations. This study employes fixed effect regression on panel data.   Results: This study finds that female CEOs who focus stakeholder orientation improve corporate social responsibility (CSR), but those who prioritize shareholder orientation do not. The study finds that female CEOs who prioritize stakeholders favor corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that benefit the economy and environment. This study also shows that femininity does not affect profitability and disproves the idea that feminine female CEOs are incompetent.   Conclusion: This study concludes that female CEOs in patriarchal cultures, such as Indonesia, behave similarly to male CEOs in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), based on the upper-echelon theory and the self-selection hypothesis. To enhance CSR, female CEOs must possess more feminine attributes, which is stakeholder orientation. Female CEOs' stakeholder orientation may affect their CSR perception in a male-dominated business environment. This study also shows that feminine female CEOs can improve CSR without hurting financial results.