THE ROLE OF FEMALE DIRECTORS’ ATTRIBUTES IN ENHANCING CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTING TRANSPARENCY: A BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric review that examines the role of female directors’ attributes in enhancing corporate governance and accounting transparency. This topic has gained increasing scholarly and policy interest amid the growing global emphasis on board diversity and ethical governance. Despite a growing body of literature linking gender diversity to improved governance outcomes, there is limited consolidated evidence on this field's scope, trends, and influential contributions. Addressing this gap, the study aims to map and analyze the intellectual structure and evolution of research on succeeding studies on female directors and governance between 2020 and 2025. Using the keywords “female director” and “governance,” a systematic search was conducted in the Scopus database. Inclusion criteria were set to ensure relevance and quality, restricting results to English-language journal articles within the subject areas of Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance, and Social Sciences. The final dataset comprised 331 publications. Scopus Analyzer generated performance metrics, including publication trends, country contributions, and leading sources. At the same time, VOSviewer software was employed for science mapping through keyword co-occurrence, co-authorship, and citation network visualizations. The results indicate a growing interest in the topic, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia leading the publication output. Corporate governance, board diversity, and gender diversity emerged as the dominant keywords, reflecting thematic concentration. Citation analysis identified highly influential authors and seminal works that shaped this research area. The findings reveal the dynamics of academic engagement with gender and governance and provide scholars and policymakers with insights into key contributors, collaboration patterns, and emerging research themes. This bibliometric analysis clarifies how female board representation intersects with the quality of governance and financial transparency.