Gender and Earnings Conference Calls

Abstract

Using a large sample of quarterly earnings conference call transcripts, we investigate gender issues in interactions between two high-profile professions—sell-side analysts and public firm executives. We find that women are generally less “visible” on conference calls. Specifically, female analysts have fewer conference call participation opportunities. Conditional on participation, female analysts are allowed fewer opportunities to ask follow-up questions and speak less compared with male counterparts. Female analysts speak with more positive tone, less uncertainty, less numerical content, fewer speech hesitations, and fewer back and forth conversations with firm management. Female executives have shorter discourses and receive more rounds of questions from analysts. However, female executives exhibit more certainty and hesitate less, indicating superior abilities in answering analysts’ questions. Our analysis of speech interruptions finds that female analysts are interrupted less by female, but not male, executives. Female executives receive more interruptions from both male analysts and executives and are more likely to be challenged by male subordinates. The equity market also discounts female analysts’ participation. Overall, our results are consistent with gender-based discrimination.