Sustainable supply chain decisions – (when) does gender matter?

Purpose Diversity, equity and inclusion in supply chain management (SCM) is an emerging topic of interest within the broader conversation of sustainability. While studies on gender impacts in SCM decisions/outcomes exist, there is a gap regarding social sustainability decisions, as well as in studies that combine sustainability outcomes with risk. Our aim is to understand the relationship between gender and decision behaviour regarding socially sustainable procurement, particularly in the context of ambiguous information on social sustainability risks. Design/methodology/approach We examine the effects of risk probability ambiguity (RPA) and social issue specificity on social sustainability preferences in purchasing decision-making and whether differences based on gender arise. A scenario-based role-playing experiment was first piloted with supply chain students (n = 170) and then ran with supply chain professionals (n = 612). Findings The results suggest that, overall, female managers tend to choose the more sustainable product choice when compared to the choices made by their male counterparts. When RPA was introduced, however, female purchasing managers were more risk-taking than males. This finding was opposite to our hypothesis based on previous literature. Originality/value Using gender role theory to explain differences in purchasing and supply management behaviour is scarce. Our findings on the role of gender in decision-making regarding social sustainability risks were largely opposite to previous findings on risk behaviour based on gender. This supports further exploration of gender roles and how they evolve within a purchasing career to explain behavioural differences.