The impact of female directors on enhancing ESG performance and sustainability outcomes across sectors in Malaysia over time

Focusing on public listed companies in Malaysia over the 2018–2023 period, this study explores their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance as determined by temporal dynamics, sectoral variation, and governance factors. More specifically, the study examines the effect of sectoral variation and board gender di-versity on ESG achievement by leveraging the Stakeholder Theory, Resource-Based View, and Institutional Theory. A panel dataset and fixed-effects regression mod-els encompassing interaction terms are employed for this purpose, leading to three primary findings. The first key finding indicates a significant and gradual decline in ESG performance post-2020, showing how fragile sustainability commitments are against external pressures. Secondly, there are notable cross-sector variations in ESG scores with construction, manufacturing, and healthcare leading ahead of agriculture and utilities. Finally, board gender diversity shows no consistent effect on ESG performance; it does, however, pose certain positive effects on some in-dustries. Collectively, these findings in the context of emerging markets mean that ESG engagement is intricately driven by the combination of institutional pressures, industry norms, and governance structures. Contributing to ESG literature, this study demonstrates how context-specific governance mechanisms and sector-based policy interventions can crucially promote corporate sustainability.