We analyze the association between female directorship on the board and real earnings management in context of an emerging economy, in Bangladesh. To accomplish the task, we utilize a sample of 2193 firm-year observations listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange throughout the period 2000-2017. Our exploration indicates that the presence of female directors, the proportion of female directors on the board, as well as the presence of independent female director; all of these forms are positively associated with real earnings management. Therefore firms, with female director(s), tend to be in-volved in higher levels of earnings management through lower price discount, unfavorable credit facility and lower scales of production. This study also underscores that firms with female direc-tor(s) are more likely to abide by defensive financial reporting policies and they lean towards employing more income-decreasing earnings. On the other hand, their counterparts in firms with a less representation from female on the board are much less likely to engage in similar practices. So, the persistence of female directors may resolve the problem of income-increasing real earnings man-agement in a significant manner. Additionally, we provide evidence that corporate governance plays a beneficial role in limiting real earnings management especially when the board appoints female director(s).