economics Practical Magic

The #MeToo movement improved the technical accuracy of female stock analysts by breaking down gender-gated barriers to corporate information.

March 31, 2026

Original Paper

Gender Bias and Female Analyst Performance: Evidence from the #MeToo Movement

Rubin Hao, Jing Xue, Haoyi Yang, Scott Luo

SSRN · 6467498

The Takeaway

The study found that after #MeToo, female analysts' forecasts became more accurate and timely. This wasn't just because of 'empowerment,' but because the cultural shift forced corporate management to grant female analysts the same level of access to information that was previously reserved for men.

From the abstract

This study investigates the impact of changing gender bias on the career advancement and forecasting performance of female analysts. By leveraging the #MeToo movement as a shock to the prevailing gender-based discrimination, we find that women experience improvements in participation and promotion in the equity research profession. #MeToo has fostered a more genderinclusive environment both in the brokerage houses where analysts work and in the firms that they cover, as evidenced by more perform