JEFFREY HARDING: California’s Feminist Corporate Coup.

The law’s goal is gender parity, but it is couched in financial terms suggesting that companies with women on their boards do better than those that don’t. Several studies are cited to back this claim (UC Cal, Credit Suisse, and McKinsey). Catalyst, a nonprofit that promotes women in the workplace, did a widely quoted study that claimed:

• Return on Equity: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53%.
• Return on Sales: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 42%.
• Return on Invested Capital: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66%.

This claim doesn’t meet the smell test and the overwhelming conclusion of scientific research in the field says that women directors have little or no effect on corporate performance. Much of the data supporting the feminist theory lacks empirical rigor and is coincidental (A happened and then B happened, thus A caused B).

“Party of Science.”