Gender and accountancy - Why accountancy crunches the perfect numbers in equality
Alongside their bottom line, the businesses that make up modern Britain have a set of other obligations and responsibilities. A body of environmental law, initiatives like the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) and equalities law all have their own impact on how companies behave, as well as a company’s costs. One of the biggest moves in recent decades has been a push to bring gender and equality up the priority list of British businesses. While some sectors have fared badly, the race to create a business environment of equality, there is a clear winner – accountancy.
The data, helped by Caprica Online Accountants and which was compiled by executive coaching consultancy Talking Talent, has 94% of women employed in the accountancy sector reporting back that their company is ‘supportive of women’. The encouraging figure compares to a national picture in which an enormous 44% of women feel that they have lost out in their career for gender-related reasons. So what is it about accountancy that makes the sector different?
To answer that question, it is worth considering a few sectors which came out especially badly in the report. Industry on the whole fared badly, with a shocking 89% of women working in engineering and manufacturing jobs saying their employers were poor at ‘retaining talent’. Could there be a macho, male dominated atmosphere in some areas of the economy that are absent in others?
There may be more interesting clues in the nature of the work being done. Manufacturing, for example, is a sector where men may find some of the manual elements of their work easier than some of their female counterparts. Accountancy firms, contrastingly, make very different demands of their staff. In a sense it is more of a level playing field.
Still, there are deeper elements of the sector that may lend themselves to a better atmosphere of gender equality. Accountancy work has an innate flexibility to it, which may have something to do with the positive response. Many practices have arrangements for individuals who wish to work from home or take flexible hours. One of the biggest challenges of Britain’s 21st century economy has been to adapt itself to family life. Recent moves by the government to align maternity and paternity leave are encouraging, but much of the legislation – and mindset – we have is still very much suited to the 1950s, not the 2010s.
Accountancy seems to have some valuable lessons to teach other sectors of the economy. Women in accountancy were cited by the report as more likely to feel that their company was adept at retaining female talent. This not only strengthens the company, but also allows staff to fit work around their lives in a more gender equal way. Other office-based areas of the economy could take note at the ability of their accountancy counterparts to do this, with flexible home/office balances, out of office support and more determination to retain talent after periods of leave.
The drive to make Britain a country in which gender equality at work is a reality is far from over. While this is still the case, accountants may have to add this to the long list of things they can advise their clients on.
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