Abstract:

This paper examined the influence of female directors on boards on corporate social performance of listed deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. This was done to assess the attributes of the female directors (composition, expertise, independence) to determine whether they significantly contribute to decisions that relates to corporate social responsibility expenditure. The study comprises of 14 banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31^st December 2018. A sample size of 10 banks was selected using the Purposive Sampling Technique. Data were obtained from published annual reports of selected banks for 2010 to 2018. Descriptive statistics and Feasible Generalized Least Square regression (FGLS) were used to analyse data collected. The findings revealed that female board composition, female board expertise and female board independence had a statistically significant positive effect on corporate social responsibility expenditure. The study concludes that the presence of women is significant in a board. However, the financial as well as social and environmental expertise of the women coupled with a working environment that will promote independence of the women is also paramount. It is therefore recommended that banks should not limit its focus to female representation on the boards alone, but should ensure that the quality of women selected is considered to promote better social performance.