Karim Mahran, Osama Abouelela, H Yarmohammadian Mohammad, Ahmed A. Elamer
ABSTRACT This study provides a comprehensive systematic review of 265 scholarly articles that examine the relationship between board diversity and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. The analysis critically maps existing research and identifies key thematic trends, revealing that most studies focus on gender and independence while devoting limited attention to other diversity dimensions such as age, tenure, expertise and cognitive attributes. Evidence also shows that board characteristics are often examined in isolation, with limited consideration of their combined effects on financial performance, risk taking and the quality of organisational reporting. Research on how board diversity influences the assurance and qualitative features of ESG disclosures, including readability, tone, specificity and the presence of boilerplate language, remains particularly scarce. The study provides a framework that highlights the current state of research on board diversity and ESG and offers clear directions for future work. It makes important theoretical contributions to understanding how board diversity shapes ESG outcomes and offers practical implications for regulators, policymakers and corporate leaders seeking to improve governance and sustainability performance. The study boundaries include its focus on English‐language articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, which may shape the scope of the evidence reviewed.