Macho culture 'hampers success of female accountants'

News Article - 06 June 2007
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Female accountants still face a glass ceiling at work because of so-called macho working practices, it has been claimed.

The Scotsman cites a recent report by accountant Elizabeth Gammie of Robert Gordon University as highlighting that the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland had only 13 per cent of female practice partners.

Of those surveyed at big four firms KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and Deloitte, 19 per cent of partners were found to be women.

Professor Gammie said of the findings: "Whilst increasing numbers of women have qualified as Scottish chartered accountants in recent years, there remains a disparity in senior positions dependent on gender, which is particularly evident at the partnership level and cannot be explained by timing issues."

She added that while it had been shown that not all women had to put their family and personal lives on hold for their careers, the culture of professional accountancy made it difficult for women to succeed without having to do so.

Females do appear to be achieving success in the US however, with the Clarion-Ledger stating that women now make up 60 per cent of the accountancy workforce.

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