Audit committees, female directors and the types of female and male financial experts : further evidence

Evidence on the association between female directors on audit committees and audit quality is weak. Further, researchers’ failure to identify the types of female and male financial experts may have a) resulted in the mixed evidence on the relationship between female financial experts on audit committees and financial reporting monitoring, and b) led them to question male financial experts on audit committees. Thus, we examine whether female directors and the types of female and male financial experts on audit committees are associated with audit quality. Using FTSE 350 firms from 2009 to 2017 and ordinary least-squares regression, this study finds that female directors and female accounting experts on audit committees are positively associated with audit quality. Our results may explain the conflicting evidence on the association between female financial experts and financial reporting oversight and also suggest that firms’ audit quality may increase with female accounting experts on audit committees