According to the AICPA, about 50 percent of all new CPAs are women, but only about 21 percent of partners or principals are, and that number gets even smaller when you look to the C-suite.
Why?
The answers are complex. To begin with, women and men are just different, and sometimes our differences don’t allow us to showcase the talents and benefits we bring to our firm. Men are often perceived to be more assertive and competitive, but when women are more assertive, it is often considered socially awkward and viewed negatively - and we are labeled “pushy,” “aggressive” or worse. So perhaps unintentionally, women are passed over and left behind while male counterparts get choice assignments, invitations to lunch or golf outings and build relationships with key people. Although we all strive to be excellent professionals, it is often our interpersonal relationships that are the key to success, and without those, our career growth is stunted.
Women prioritize differently. We tend to assume a larger amount of the responsibilities for our home and children than our male counterparts, leaving us burning more of the candle at both ends. Earlier in my career, a colleague (whose wife was also a professional working full time) joked about his “magic basket” – a basket in which he would put all of his dirty clothes and “magically” two days later they would be hanging up, clean, in his closet. Asking around, it seems that many of my male colleagues have this basket, whereas most of my female colleagues’ baskets seem to lack any magic at all.
Lastly, women have a shortage of role models in the accounting profession. It’s challenging for young women to find examples of how to succeed in public accounting, particularly in leadership roles and across our service lines. Without other women to identify with, success may seem unobtainable and the glass ceiling too impenetrable, causing us to look outside our firm or to the private sector to fulfill our aspirations.
What’s next?
Consider the business case. By fully appreciating the business case for advancing women, firms across the United States will gain clarity on why we should all care about this issue. While progress has been made in overall diversity and inclusion efforts here, a diverse leadership will improve our firm, provide greater opportunities to expand our client base and help us to grow and compete. Next, look to best practices within the industry.
As the AICPA’s women’s initiative continues to expand, more firms are exploring how to retain and advance women and we can apply what they have already learned about what works. Finally, keep the lines of communication open about what is working and what isn’t. We all have a stake in this. We need to find innovative ways to communicate our ideas on fixing this statistic so that advancing women in our firm and profession becomes a reality.