Gender, Corporate Risk Taking and Performance

This study examines theeffect of gender diversity in the board of director on firm leverage and financial performance. Arguably, the more the proportion of female director on board, the corporate risk taking and performance should be lower. To mitigate the negative effect of female directors’ presence, education background is used as moderating variable. The study uses dataof listed firms in Indonesia Stock Exchange over the period of 2010-2014. The results show that the presence of female directors on the board is negatively associated with leverage. The similar result is also found on the effect of female director on the boardon firm performance. Results also reveal that education background does notmoderate the link between women presence on leverage and performance. However,the few control variables and relatively small sample could be considered should be acknowledged. Keywords: Women on Board, Risk Taking Decision, Firm Performance, Educatio