The “glass ceiling” - or the set of obstacles standing between women and senior positions in professional hierarchies - is a concept that has not spared the closed environment of finance. Indeed, fewer than 20% of director-level positions in the sector are held by women.
“Women in finance and accounting take seven more years, on average, than their male counterparts to reach executive level”. This is the conclusion of a report commissioned by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), published on Tuesday 24 July, comparing the career trajectories of men and women in this professional environment in the United Kingdom.
The study, which was carried out by King's College London and the Economic & Social Research Council, reveals that although generally, the careers of men and women in the sector progress almost in parallel, women's careers slow down for interim management positions. It is at this stage of their careers that women take seven years longer on average than their male counterparts to move to the next level.
The study looks at the reasons for this observation and concludes that for many women, this deceleration in their career progression can be explained by the fact that they are given fewer strategic resources and opportunities than their male colleagues and that unlike men, they benefit from limited peer mentoring.
The report is available at: https://bit.ly/2v3J6WS (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)