What’s your view? Gender equity

In every issue of The Bottom Line, we ask students for their thoughts on a particular topic. This month, we want to know:

Do you think the profession is doing enough to promote gender equity?

Rachel Murrin

McMoreland Duffy Rouse

In the past, I think the profession was primarily male dominated but, over the course of recent years, it has evolved so more women are being recruited. Although there is still 
room for improvement in the profession. 

I don’t believe improvements in gender equity are purely down to the firms, but instead where it begins: education systems. 

However, I don’t think our education system promotes the accounting and financial industries to be more equitable.

Ultimately, we cannot expect there to be gender equity within the profession if there is not an equal recruiting choice. 

Ireland has a large education system with many universities and institutes of technology across the country so there is significant room in that area to improve the gender equality in these institutions.

Another area in which the profession could improve on to provide more gender equality is the recognition of family barriers. 

There is an undeniable barrier with the role of women and family life. The stress of returning to work after taking parental leave is overwhelming enough on its own but to be expected to return and have the same goals and level of commitment in return for career rewards is unrealistic. 

While most women are capable and will provide to the best of their ability, I think there needs to be a culture built where women don’t have to come back with that level of unrealistic commitment.

Diarmuid Staunton

PwC

I believe that significant progress has been made in recent decades to promote gender equality in the accounting profession. 

From my experience working in the industry, there appears to be equal opportunities and representation of both genders. 

Organisations have made a conscious effort in recent years to address the gender imbalance of leadership positions. The publication of Gender Pay Gap Reports from many companies has helped give a clear picture of where many firms are at and shows the great progress that has been made to date.

Many companies have also made the shift in recent years towards more flexible working arrangements, which have allowed for the creation of more inclusive and diverse workplaces. Initiatives like these paired with continued equal professional and development opportunities for all employees will continue to ensure that the accounting profession is full of equal opportunities for everyone.

Siodhna Woods

KPMG 

As a profession overall, I believe there have been massive improvements in terms of the promotion of gender equality, through changes in certain policies affecting women, increased progression opportunities for women and the clear promotion and involvement in things like women in sport. 

Among the Big Four firms and some of the larger mid-tier firms, I believe maternity leave policies and flexible working policies are super attractive. This is extremely important to a lot of working women as these policies allow us to easily integrate a work-life balance, usually during the most important stage of our careers and family lives. 

There could, however, be improvement in this area across the smaller training firms. 

Despite room for improvement, we’re definitely heading in the right direction.