Career progression in accountancy ‐ the role of personal and situational factors

Abstract

Abstract Examines the personal and situational factors that determine career progression for women in the accountancy profession within the context of the Big Six firms in Scotland from data generated by a postal questionnaire focusing specifically on both male and female senior managers within these firms. The results relating to person‐centred data indicate that the most common aspiration of the senior managers relates to the attainment of partnership status. Motherhood appears to modify career expectations and there is also evidence of a different gender attitude towards acceptability of long working hours with women indicating a general reluctance to match the number of hours worked by men. Analysis of situational factors revealed that men have moved into the new areas of work resulting in women being segregated into the less prestigious, more routine functions of the profession. The results also suggest that men are head‐hunted into senior management positions, while women remain loyal to their training firms in order to be promoted. Thus there appear to be both person and situational factors that determine the pace and structure of the careers and pace of senior managers in the accountancy profession when analysed from a gender perspective.