| Summary: | This paper seeks to contribute to the board gender diversity debate by introducing a tool to
capacitate women for effective and impactful board participation. The tool was developed using
principal component analysis and incorporated the conceptual domain of board gender diversity and
the lived experiences of board participants in South Africa. To validate the instrument, interviews
were conducted with 19 participants from the boards of companies from three industry sectors;
namely; oil and gas, mining and pharmaceutical sectors. The instrument was then completed by 193
respondents from the three sectors. The newly developed tool was found to be a 16-item tool with
five dimensions named as: (1) valuability; (2) distinctiveness and confidence; (3) technical expertise;
(4) worldly wisdom; and (5) industry and leadership experience. The tool introduced should be seen
as a practical reference point to prepare women for effective board participation.
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