Women at Accounting’s Top Levels

Just over one-quarter of all new partners at public accounting firms in the past three years were women, according to a study by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Part of the reason more women aren’t making it to partnership, the highest level in an accounting firm, is that there are still fewer women in the senior ranks from which new partners are drawn, and that, in part, is because turnover in those senior ranks is higher among women. The survey was conducted in December, with more than 1,700 firms participating.

NEW PARTNERS WITHIN THE LAST THREE YEARS At all accounting firms, 26% of new partners during the last three years have been women. At smaller firms--those with fewer than five employees--the figure rises to 39%, while at firms with more than 20 employees, only 13% of new partners were women.

GENDER IN THE TOP RANKS At accounting firms of all sizes, women make up about a quarter of the people in the top ranks. Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants