摘要：This study examined the effect of board diversity on the financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study also examined the relationship between board independence and financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. For the purpose of this study, the proxy for financial performance is profit margin while the proxies for board diversity and board independence are the ratio of female directors to total board size and ratio of non-executive directors to total board size, respectively. The data for the study were sourced from the annual reports of 10 listed deposit money banks in Nigeria from 2008 to 2017. The data were analyzed using pooled Ordinary Least Square regression. The results show that the coefficient of board diversity was positively signed and statistically significant at 5% (β=0.34, ρ=0.02); the coefficient of board independence was positively signed and statistically significant at 5% (β= 0.11, ρ=0.02). The study concludes that both gender diversity and board independence positively affect the financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that deposit money banks should encourage appointment of qualified female directors on the board. In addition, deposit money banks should ensure the independence of the board by appointing independent non-executive director who are well experienced in bank management.
