Women in Accounting
Educational Achievement of Accounting Degrees, 20091
Women Accountants
- Women are 60.1% of all accountants and auditors.2
- In a 2009 study, women were 55% of newly hired accounting graduates at CPA firms, and 41% of all CPAs.3
- Women are 23% of all partners at firms, although they are 49% of all accounting employees at accounting firms. 4
- A 2010 study examined the number of women partners at the Big Four accounting firms in 2009. Women were 18.1% of all equity partners at Big Four firms. 5
- By firm, the percentage of partners that were women were: 6
- 18.8% at Deloitte7
- 18.8% at KPMG8
- 17.9% at Ernst & Young9
- 16.9% at PricewaterhouseCoopers10
- The same study examined the overall number of women employees at the largest accounting firms. By firm, the percentage of employees that were women were:
- 49.2% at Ernst & Young11
- 48.6% at PricewaterhouseCoopers12
- 48.3% at KPMG13
- 44.0% at Deloitte. 14
Women of Color in Accounting
- Women of color earned 14.6% of all bachelor’s degrees in accounting in 2009-2010 school year.15
- Women of color are 16.4% of all of those employed in industries of accounting, tax prep, bookkeeping, and payroll services.16
Women Accountants in Management and in the Pipeline
- In 2011, women were 8.7% of all CFOs.17
- There are a variety of positions that an accountant may occupy as they climb the corporate ladder to management positions. While they may start as cost accountants, junior internal auditors, or trainees, they will rise into positions such as accounting manager, chief cost accountant, budget director, manager of internal auditing, controller, treasurer, financial vice presidents, chief financial officers, or corporation presidents.18
- Women are progressing faster in smaller firms as opposed to larger firms. Across firms of all sizes, women occupy between 11% and 31% of all senior leadership positions (which include policy-level senior partners, national practice management, regional partners, office managing partners and director of tax/audit/consulting/industry specialties).19
- 21% of all firms offered non-partnership career tracks, while 9% of firms offered alternative partnership arrangements. 20
- Alternative partnership arrangements include "variations on the traditional equity owner working full time and include part-time partners, non-equity owners or graduated benefits." 21
Percentage of Non-Partnership Managers by Gender22
- Of firms that offer alternative partnerships,
- 36% of all women partners have used alternative partnerships; 23
- 16% of men partners have used alternative partnerships. 24
Sources
1 National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 286: Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor's Degrees Conferred by Degree-granting Institutions, by Sex of Student and Discipline Division: 2008-09," 2010 Digest of Education Statistics (2011).
2 Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity 2010," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).
3 AICPA, 2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits (2009).
4 AICPA, 2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits (2009).
5 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
6 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
7 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
8 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
9 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
10 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
11 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
12 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
13 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
14 "Women Continue to Advance into Leadership at Largest Firms," Public Accounting Report (June 15, 2010).
15National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS (2011).
16 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "2009 EEO-1 Aggregate Report: NAICS-5 Code 54121 – Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services" (2010).
17 Catalyst, unpublished data (2011).
18 BLS, "Accountants and Auditors," Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011 Edition.
19 Variation of number is due to firm size; lower uncertainty is among professionals at larger firms. For more details, please refer to AICPA Work/Life and Women's Initiatives 2004 Research: A Decade of Changes in the Profession: Workforce Trends and Human Capital Practices.
UPDATED December 14, 2011
