Top Management Team Diversity, Equality, and Innovation: A Multilevel Investigation of the Health Care Industry

Abstract

The role of women on top management teams (TMTs) is an increasingly important topic for both academics and practitioners. Despite increased attention to gender diversity on TMTs, there remains limited understanding of how gender diversity influences important outcomes of the firm, such as innovation. To this end, I investigate the relationships between two dimensions of TMT diversity—TMT gender diversity and TMT compensation equality—and firm innovation, and consider how TMT size influences these relationships. Using a unique, multilevel, longitudinal sample of publicly traded firms in the U.S. health care industry, I find TMT size to be a key driver in the TMT diversity and firm innovation relationship.