Women and transgenerational succession in family firms: a systematic review

Purpose Although succession research in family businesses has advanced considerably in recent decades, studies focusing on daughters as successors remain limited and fragmented. This study aims to synthesize and systematize existing research on daughters' pre-decision succession process. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review based on 27 peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2025 and indexed in Scopus and Web of Science was conducted. The review first mapped the theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and geographical contexts applied in the field. Using inductive content analysis, the literature was then structured into four thematic clusters: (1) societal and cultural context to female succession, (2) family pressure and expectations, (3) competency and leadership identity and (4) commitment and legitimacy perception. Findings The review conceptualizes daughters' succession as an iterative pre-decision process in which self-perceived successor viability, externally attributed legitimacy and gendered opportunity structures interact over time. The synthesis shows that enabling mechanisms such as early inclusion, mentoring or education may strengthen daughters' succession trajectories. At the same time, constraining mechanisms such as sexism, male-successor preference or parental gatekeeping may delay, redirect, contest, or undermine these trajectories. Originality/value Beyond categorizing existing research, this study provides an integrative enabling-constraining process framework of daughters' pre-decision succession. It differentiates women's participation in family-firm leadership from daughters' recognition as dynastic successors and highlights how successor viability and legitimacy are recursively constructed across societal, familial, individual and stakeholder levels.