Despite findings by a variety of sources that more women on boards and exec teams have a positive impact on the bottom line, there is a lingering concern regarding the drop in share prices seen by several businesses after they have improved their gender diversity. Andrew O’Connell has published “Why stock price drops when women join the board” that argues that it all comes down to bias – on the part of the shareholders.

He writes on the difference in behaviour for block shareholders and non-blockholders and how self-censoring and public pressure change a shareholders response to more women on boards. He also features Dobbin (the group behind the study) insights regarding how the  “studies show we all hold gender biases and act on them intuitively — and in the blink of an eye.”

There have been a range of comments to the blog, including the expected short-sighted sexist ones that blame feminists, so make sure you read them too and throw your thoughts up in our comments section or email us directly if gender diversity is something you think is worth discussing.