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Accounting and finance

The Division: Challenges women face in career advancement

Women face different sets of challenges than men in accounting, but how far along is the profession when it comes to equity?

Spend 40 minutes skimming Reddit threads about the disproportionate number of women to men in senior roles in accounting firms across North America and you’ll close your browser with dampened spirits. You’re not alone in this disappointment, and you’ll find plenty of stories from commentors on the divide: having babies affects a woman’s career progression, accounting is still seen as men’s work, etc. (You’ll also find a handful of disparaging terms for offices full of men. A SFW expression we found that sums it up: “Brodeo.”) 


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Women have made progress in the field, that’s true. One study published earlier this year in the Finance & Accounting Research Journal even references a “gradual dismantling of the glass ceiling, with women assuming roles as partners, executives and leaders within accounting firms.” Still, these breakthroughs haven’t come without challenges, and gender biases, the pay gap and issues around work-life balance—and work-life planning—can make navigating the profession feel demoralizing. Sabrina Rai, CPA, is a faculty member in the Accounting & Information Systems Division at the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business in Vancouver. She earned her designation five years ago and says there has been notable progress, but it hasn’t come without significant challenges. “Despite the increasing number of women entering the profession, leadership and partnership roles remained underrepresented. Work-life balance is a consistent challenge, especially during tax season. This poses difficulties for women who have to juggle professional responsibilities with family and caregiving roles,” she says. 

Rai has experienced the divide herself. “Early on, I discovered I was being paid less than a male colleague who held the exact same position I did. Despite having similar qualifications and doing the same amount of work—sometimes I did more—his salary was higher than mine. This disparity was disheartening and a stark reminder that the gender pay gap is still very much alive.”  

Rai mentions watching female coworkers take work demands into consideration when starting their families, “carefully planning pregnancies that wouldn’t coincide with tax season, fearing taking maternity leave at a crucial time might hinder their career progression.” Of course, the so-called “motherhood penalty” isn’t unique to accounting. According to a report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in February, women who have children are seen as “less competent and having fewer loyalties to their job while the opposite happens to men,” who are seen as more capable when they become fathers.  

“These experiences are not isolated. Despite the strides we've made toward equality, there's still a long way to go. We need more transparency in pay and better support for women who are balancing their careers and family planning,” says Rai. “It’s unfair that women feel this pressure, and it underscores the double standard that exists in our industry.” 

Rai’s experience is shared by scores of women, but there are also stories of those who have enjoyed more broadminded, forward-thinking workplaces and management teams. “I was perhaps lucky to have been in organizations that had fairly progressive diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and where supporting women was the norm, even if the environment was male dominated,” says Lally Rementilla, the managing partner of intellectual property-backed financing at BDC Capital in Toronto, and a CPA for more than 20 years.  

“Even more interesting, one company asked me, as the most senior female executive, to help create policies relating to maternity leaves and supporting women in the workplace.” While Rementilla agrees women are most often expected to take on caregiver roles in the family, she believes the most successful and happy women are those who are highly selective of the roles they take on and consistently reassess the optimization of those roles. “They try not to ‘have it all,’ but rather identify the key things they want to achieve, then go for it,” she says.  

Building a supportive, gender-diverse network from the time a CPA starts out is hugely beneficial. “The more male allies I have in my network, the less I find I’m subject to gender bias. And this isn’t about being ‘one of the guys’—it’s about being with the guys.” Rai echoes this advice and says she’s looked up to male and female mentors for guidance. “Having someone who can advocate for you is invaluable. Also, lift others as you climb and you’re contributing to a stronger, more equitable work environment for everyone. Change won’t happen overnight; we all have a role to play in making the workplace more equitable.”