•Confucian conception of gender reduces the presence of female CFOs.•Confucian conception of gender reduces the occurrence of male CEO-female CFO pairings.•Female CFOs and the male CEO-female CFO combinations enhance accounting conservatism.•Conservatism of female CFOs is more pronounced in more traditional external environment. We evidence the reinforcement of traditional gender roles is a negative determinant of the presence of female CFOs. Firms that nevertheless have executive gender diversity, with male CEO-female CFO combinations, exhibit higher accounting conservatism, with this conservatism more pronounced in more traditional external environments. Female CFOs, supply accounting conservatism in greater amounts when 1) CEOs are male, and 2) the firm operates in a more traditional external environment. In especially traditional environments, female CFOs supply a counterbalance to excessive male risk taking. We contribute to understanding the impacts of executive gender diversity and the external conditions that mediate these outcomes.