Facts and Myths about Women CPAs

Does it seem that every newspaper or magazine contains another article on women in business? Do accounting publications all seem to be reporting research findings about women CPAs, especially their "upward mobility" and how they can enhance their chances of being successful at work? Do you sometimes think "women in accounting" is an old issue and it's time to move on? If so, you share the thoughts expressed by many CPA firm managing partners in discussion groups that were a part of a research study conducted by the American Institute of CPAs women and family issues executive committee. Some partners perceived that because women have made up about half of the new hires in public accounting for a number of years, the problems that can be influenced by individual firm behavior have been resolved. Many partners believed the primary remaining issue--turnover and retention--was beyond their influence because it resulted from women's personal choices about their careers and families. However, survey data collected in another phase of the study suggested this and other misperceptions actually might contribute to the remaining upward mobility problems. The data are important because firm leaders who are misinformed about the status and attitudes of half of those entering the profession may not always be able to attract and retain some of the profession's most talented people. TRUE AND FALSE Some of the common beliefs about the difficulties the CPA firm environment creates for women undoubtedly are true. For example, work-load compression means long hours during busy season. The growth of specialization means increased travel, which makes life complicated for employees with family obligations. Profitability issues are important to all firms, especially in light of reduced growth rates and legal liability pressures. This environment nurtures a work ethic for which workaholics traditionally have set the standard. The discussion group partners had mixed beliefs about whether this ethic was changing. Thus, many had concluded that turnover among women continued to be a result of women's personal decisions to exit a demanding career environment. But survey results suggested personal choices made by men and women really might not be that different. Overall female turnover in lower ranks was a little higher than that of males, especially in larger firms. It seemed to balance out, though, by the time all employees attained the rank of senior manager. However, by that time the absolute numbers of women available for promotion had been depleted. Because there were fewer women to promote, fewer reached the top. There also were proportionately fewer women in the top ranks of smaller firms, even though the turnover patterns were less distinct. Is there nothing firms can do to prevent women from leaving before they attain the top jobs? The experiences of firms that have used creative human resource programs suggest firms can make a difference. One common belief is that firms have no control over turnover among women because many women leave for purely personal reasons once they have children. The survey showed this simply is wrong: A high percentage of women returned after maternity leave. This misperception is especially troublesome since many partners admitted they might not invest as much in developing female employees' career potential because they subscribed to the notion that "after the baby, they're gone." JUST THE FACTS Slightly more than half of all professional staff hired in the last three years by responding firms were males. Firms with 20 or fewer AICPA members hired a greater proportion of females (see exhibit 1 on page 80). These results are consistent with the annual AICPA Supply of Accounting Graduates and Demand for Accounting Recruits studies, which found that since the mid-1980s, more than half of the accounting graduates--and since the late 1980s, about half of public accounting entry-level hires--have been women. …

Field of study: Business