Gender and Beauty in the Financial Analyst Profession: Evidence from the U.S. and China

We examine how gender and beauty affect the likelihood of being voted as an All-Star in the financial analyst profession in both the U.S. and China. We find that female analysts are more likely to be voted as All-Star analysts in the U.S., but good-looking female U.S. analysts are less likely to be voted as All-Stars. The conclusion is the opposite for Chinese financial analysts. We find that female analysts in China are less likely to be voted as All-Stars, but the likelihood increases with their facial attractiveness. These findings implicate a beauty penalty for female analysts in the U.S. and gender discrimination against female analysts in China. This career path evidence from a competitive financial industry suggests that gender and beauty biases may be rooted deeply in culture and legal environment and should not be treated homogenously.