Purpose This paper aims to determine possible differences in causes or characteristics between men and women in attaining the CEO position in large publicly listed companies in the USA. Design/methodology/approach T-test statistic, correlation analyses and logit model were used to determine the role individual factors (tenure in management roles, age of CEOs, number of children, years of education) and the firm-level factor (number of employees, net income) play in determining the likelihood of having a female CEO. Findings The research results show that years of education, the number of children and the number of employees in the business play significant roles in determining the likelihood of having a female CEO. An increase in the number of children and years spent in education lower the probability of the CEO being a woman, while having greater number of employees raises the likelihood of having a woman CEO. Research limitations/implications The findings are applicable to only the largest publicly traded firms in the USA and are not applicable to mid to small publicly listed, private or non-for-profit companies or institutions. This research is a starting point for future research of women and men CEOs of small and mid-size publicly traded and non-publicly traded firms in the USA. Originality/value Prior research has shown that having children is detrimental for women in management positions; this research specifically identifies this problem for the CEO position. It also reveals that having more of education does not translate to getting to the CEO position for women.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of chief financial officers’ (CFOs’) gender in financial risk taking of 58 US companies along with the impact of having women board members. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel data of 58 selected S&P 500 companies during the period 2012-2016, this paper determines whether the gender of CFOs and having women board members play a role in risk-taking behavior of firms. Findings Firms led by female CFOs are smaller in size with lower net income and net revenue. The panel data analysis shows that the impact of female CFOs on firms’ financial risk is mixed, depending on risk measures used, whereas increasing female board members reduces that risk. Research limitations/implications The data used is limited to 58 S&P 500 companies, and two of the three risk-taking measures used in the study, specifically investment in property, plant and equipment (PPE) and debt/equity ratio, may not be applicable to some industries. Practical implications The findings provide mixed evidence of risk aversion by females in executive and leadership positions, depending on the measures used and the management responsibilities they undertake (CFO versus board member) with support for the glass cliff phenomenon in which females may be leading financially precarious organizations. Social implications Female CFOs are found to be leading relatively smaller and financially poor-performing firms compared with the male CFO-led firms, thereby giving support to the glass cliff arguments. Originality/value The paper examines the role of CFOs’ gender and board diversity in risk taking as measured by the investment in PPE, debt/equity ratio and stock return volatility.

PurposeThe impact of childcare cost and childcare responsibilities has generally negatively impacted women in workforce. There has been lack of research on the impact of childcare on women managers in larger US public firms. The purpose of this paper is to determine how childcare costs impact the number of women managers in S&P 500 firms.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs Driscoll–Kraay panel regression model using childcare data for ten years and the percent of women managers at S&P 500 firms.FindingsThe results show that increase in childcare cost leads to decrease in percent of women in management positions when the child is an infant. Interestingly, but plausibly the results also show that for preschool-age children as the cost of childcare increases, there is an increase in percent of women in management. Furthermore, childcare costs are still an impediment to careers of women managers, specifically when the child is an infant. The effect is much less when the child grows from an infant to preschool age.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of this research paper is that the childcare cost data is not directly from the S&P 500 firms. The percent of women management data used is limited to the largest S&P 500 firms. Also, there is no agreement as to definition of a manager at these firms. Moreover, not only childcare cost, but the quality and availability of childcare are factors that also play a role in decision to work and/or use of childcare.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing literature by providing evidence that childcare cost impedes women managers' career growth. This finding is more worrisome given that Covid-19 has had a very disproportionate impact on women with child(dren) in the workforce.

The paper examines State Public Pension Plans in the United States and the sustainability of their funded ratios. The authors apply a panel logit with random effects regression model of asset allocation choice and average returns during fiscal years 2001 to 2015. There are three key factors which adequately fund State Public Pension Plans: (i) current member contributions, (ii) members’ employer contributions, and (iii) investment returns on those contributions. Returns on those contributions depend heavily on allocation choice of those funds in traditional and alternative investments. Alternatives are generally assumed to provide higher average returns with higher risk. This paper shows that in the long-term, investment in traditional assets such as bonds, equities and short-term cash have a higher likelihood of funding State Public Pension Plan’s payment obligations to beneficiaries.