The rhetoric and the reality of being a female accountant in Ireland: Exploring gender barriers

Abstract

This study is set in the context of a steady rise in the total proportion of female members across the six chartered accountancy bodies worldwide. Little is known about the career progression experiences of these new female accountants, or of their aspirations for senior management positions. This study investigates the perceptions of both male and female accountants on a range of previously identified gender progression barriers. We find evidence of a divergence between the perception and the reality of the lived-experience of female accountants, across the gender divide. It is clear that rather than address corporate cultural barriers the rhetoric of being a female accountant does not meet the reality. These findings contribute to the existing Irish accounting gender research and augment the female management and career development literature.

Dr. Antoinette Flynn is a lecturer and researcher with the Department of Accounting and Finance, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. Antoinette received her BBS (Finance) from Dublin City University, her MBS (International Business) from University College Dublin and her PhD in Accounting from University College Dublin. Dr. Flynn is currently teaching International Corporate Finance, Investment Analysis and Management and Financial Issues for SMEs. Her research interests span the disciplines of accounting and finance to include corporate finance in small and medium sized enterprises, mergers and acquisitions, earnings quality in international capital markets, gender in the accounting profession and accounting education. She is a member of the research themes Public Policy, Enterprise and Sustainability and Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Marketing under the overarching theme of ‘Organisation Science and Public Policy’ in the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. She is also a member of Gender ARC, a crossdisciplinary, cross-university research group hosted by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society, University of Limerick.

Paper co-authored by: Dr. Antoinette Flynn, Emily Kate Earlie, and Dr. Christine Cross, University of Limerick.

For questions, please contact Gender ARC LSS coordinator: Emma Brännlund, e.brannlund1@nuigalway.ie