By Burlington Gazette
September 17th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
What can women who aspire to become chief executive officers (CEOs) in America’s “Bible Belt” expect from their careers?
“Traditional theories suggest religion reinforces patriarchal norms, potentially limiting women’s rise to the top,” says Brock University Professor of Accounting Samir Trabelsi.
But Trabelsi and his team turned that stereotype on its head in their study, “Religiosity and Gender Dynamics in Executive Leadership: Impact on CEO Appointments and Pay Disparities,” published June 1 in the Journal of Business Ethics.
Trabelsi and then-master’s student Maryam Vashahi (MSc ’23), the study’s co-author, found no significant relationship between local religiosity and the appointment of female CEOs.
Even more surprising, the researchers say, is that women who become CEOs in highly religious states earned more than their male peers.
“Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in CEO positions, making it essential to understand the factors that either create barriers or open pathways for their advancement,” says Vashahi.
The team analyzed 2,936 CEO transitions in U.S.-listed firms between 1998 and 2021 along with religiosity measures from the Pew Research Center.
Religiosity is defined as being the expression of beliefs and practices in institutionalized religion and their influence on social behaviours and cultural norms in local settings.
The researchers expected that firms in states with stronger religious cultures would be less likely to appoint women CEOs, and that if women did attain the role, they would earn less than men.
Instead, the findings revealed an “exceptionalism premium,” says Trabelsi.
“Because female CEOs are rare in these environments, they’re seen as extraordinary and are compensated accordingly,” he says.
The study also revealed a paradox: women CEOs continued to be paid less than their male counterparts in more secular states.
“We suggest some firms may promote women to signal diversity but fail to back that up with equitable pay, a practice sometimes described as performative diversity,” says Trabelsi.
He also points out that both male and female CEOs in religious states earned less overall than their peers in secular states.
“So even though a woman CEO might out-earn a man in Alabama or Mississippi, she’s still likely earning less than a woman CEO in California or New York,” he says.
Another key finding was that companies with more women on their boards were significantly more likely to appoint a woman CEO, underscoring governance as a powerful lever for equity, he says.
There was a time when shares of public companies were traded in this building.. There was never a single woman on the trading floor. Changes do take place – even in the American Bible Belt.
In Canada, Trabelsi says only about five per cent of TSX-listed companies had a woman CEO as of 2024, and Canadian women executives still earn about 40 per cent less in total compensation than their male counterparts on average.
“From a governance perspective, Canadian regulators and boards could strengthen diversity and pay equity initiatives — for example, through enhanced transparency and leadership diversity targets — to help more women reach CEO roles and ensure they are compensated fairly once there,” he says.
Trabelsi says the research team, which also included Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management Dave Bouckenooghe and Professor of Accounting Kareen Brown, hopes the study will spark broader conversations about governance and gender equity.
“Breaking the glass ceiling is only the first step,” he says. “The real challenge is ensuring women are supported, compensated fairly and empowered once they get there.”
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