Assuming that this study is well run and this popular article isn't oversimplifying... which are very big ifs... some other ideas: - Companies in trouble might

Assuming that this study is well run and this popular article isn't oversimplifying... which are very big ifs... some other ideas: - Companies in trouble might turn to women as board members. Women executives are still mostly outsiders. They might be more likely to join (or be solicited to join) the board of a company doing poorly. - It's pretty well established that men are more comfortable with high risk -- sometimes to their detriment. Perhaps those companies with more female board members are less profitable but they go bankrupt less often. - It might be that companies start thinking about board diversity once they've plateaued.