Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of female chairperson, female chief executive officer and presence of females on boards on listed firms’ profitability using data from Ghana. Design/methodology/approach This study used ordinary least square estimation and generalized least square (i.e. fixed and random effect estimation techniques) estimation on the data of 15 nonfinancial listed firms on Ghana Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2020. Findings The results show that while males dominate corporate executive positions in listed nonfinancial firms in Ghana, females serving in top corporate executive positions like chief executive officer, board chairperson and female board membership positively impact listed firms’ performance in the form of return on assets, net profit margin and gross profit margin. These findings are consistent even when year and industry effects are controlled for. This suggests that enacting policies at the national and firm levels to encourage female participation in corporate executive roles/positions are critical for promoting firm performance. Originality/value This study extends extant empirical literature on the economic role of female executives in firm performance from the developing context of Ghana. With calls in literature for more studies on the subject matter in varied contexts and conditions, this study takes the discussion a step further by investigating whether the gender of those in positions such as board chairperson and chief executive officer matters in firm profitability in Ghana.