Women in accounting - top exam results, but still on the trial balance

From what was a male dominated profession there is no doubt, females are making quite a bit of a stir entering accountancy. This year women have scored the highest exam results in the latest ACA Professional Level exams that has resulted in an all women prize list of top scorers.

So not only are women proving themselves academically fit for purpose they are also not afraid to enter a profession once regarded as boys’ school territory.

But this is the start of the story and not the end so there has to be a big ‘but’ somewhere and here it comes:

Although women can prove themselves in the exam room they are yet to be given equal opportunity in the boardroom; even more surprising is that in some parts of the world women now represent the clear majority of accountants. Regions such as Asia Pacific; Singapore and the Philippines have some of the highest female accountant populations in the world estimated to be up to 75%, with the American labour bureau reporting female numerical dominance in accounting and tax positions.
 
There’s more of the ‘but’; in the UK a recent survey by ICAEW and Stott & May shows women earning on average 37% less than men explaining the gender pay gap partly due to seniority of role, sector bias and job type where pay is typically less.

So here’s the rub in the ‘but’; there are now more women entering into the profession, they represent majorities in some regions of the world, they excel in exams, yet they hold more junior positions, working in sectors that are not so highly paid that offer part time working, and they make slow progress when it comes to the boardroom, a natural path for accountants to take; women are struggling to reach 25% in the ftse 100 companies and only 18% in the top 250. 

On the worst interpretation; the data conspires a theory of discriminatory practice in accounting, the science has little form of testable explanations and the maths simply doesn’t make sense. On the best, it is a decision that women make to be more flexible to their life’s needs, with their choices favouring more worthy and satisfying sectors to work in.

Whatever the cause and we must remind ourselves that equal opportunity and diversity isn’t just about women; it follows along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or any other ideologies. It celebrates differences and balances opinion and decision. Global companies thrive on it.

However the effect of the appalling statistics on women in accounting is not, in the long term, good for commerce and business, and organisations must consider the consequences of continued male dominance at the top in accounting; lest we forget how far women have come in the last century.

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Great leadership and management skills within the NHS cannot exist devoid of compassion.

Just shy of 100 years ago you could have been shot for treason for telling the truth regardless of whether the truth was a justified ‘truth’ or not.

Everyone’s truth is different and so ‘truth’ as a yardstick is not necessarily an exact gauge on whether telling it is for good or for bad. Yet there have been recent instances where telling a perceived truth, perceived by the individual that is, or ‘whistleblowing’ has led to justice being done.

So when is it right to whistleblow and is the government’s crusade in favour of whistleblowing a knee jerk, politically populist, reaction to investigative journalism.

It is worth noting that NHS managers in general are highly trained individuals in public sector management. They are trained in management strategy where a lot of current practice evolves around strategic tools, theories, targets and measurement charts.

The NHS buzz phrases are; ‘patient first’, ‘waiting unacceptable’, ‘waste reduction’, ‘cost minimisation’ and ‘end to end process’.  Lean charts and critical success factors measure better value, value being determined by the customer (the patient is now the customer), and process should be consistent around a ‘core value stream’ that leaders must be able to quantify.

All this is fine but it will never change the culture of the NHS into an organisation with an overriding social mission that drives every NHS worker regardless of what they do or what level they work at. And the root cause of whistleblowing is about the lack of that social responsibility somewhere in the system.

NHS managers have dual roles in much greater quantities than managers in other sectors need to have.. They require skills in persuasion, negotiation and influence to achieve a balance in the ‘NHS the business’ role and ‘NHS the carer’ role.

The NHS business manager will use strategic management tools and techniques, and the lean six sigma strategies to plan, measure and manage what is a complex operation yet this cannot be done in isolation of the NHS ‘care manager’; two egg twins that share the womb but with different genes and different personas. Lean six sigma theories have their place and may have worked for Toyota and a plethora of other business types but the product of the NHS is distinctly different and a great deal less predictable than a car production line.

Great leadership and management skills within the NHS cannot exist devoid of compassion. Managers must have the emotional connection that stops them in their tracks if the ‘production line’ simply does not meet the social mission, no matter how challenging to change. They must not allow themselves to be anesthetised from the practices of others or from mandates coming down through a series of hierarchies. 

On balance no one can deny that whistleblowing has led to much progress.  Exactly what that progress is, in this context, is open for debate but the overriding social mission of the NHS must make it clear to leadership that doing their job is about taking social accountability as much as it is about crafting the core value stream, and that social accountability must be the main thread that runs through each and every one of their actions and decisions that they make. This is not rocket science or car aerodynamics.

Truth though has context too and the Doctor who was sacked by the mental health trust for raising concerns with her employer and the care worker who pushed the alarm about mistreatment both clearly spoke out against a deep belief that the system was not right.

But why did they have to whistleblow? - Because no-one was listening and the culture of fear stopped others from changing the system, or there was no system in place that allowed a voice to be heard and investigated. Of course trying to control whistleblowing is tantamount to ‘gagging’ but somehow the NHS must  have a robust process in place where front line staff in health and care roles are heard and taken seriously without fearing for their jobs and it’s only the managers who can do this.

At Morgan Hunt we strive to seek out candidates who can demonstrate leadership with a mission consistent with NHS values because we know that the future of the NHS is in the hands of the people that our clients employ. We’re all ‘customers’ of the NHS and if there is one thing that almost everyone agrees upon and that is we all want our NHS.

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"Getting your message across is all important for your career" -
8 tips on how to do this when everyone else is talking

Meetings come in many forms and guises; there are those which are formal, incredibly well organised, everyone knows their place and is given floor-time equally or proportionately and then there are the more informal, disorganised meetings which appear to be more like free-for-alls.

Whichever of these you attend you know that in order for your career to progress you need to participate. After all it's a dog-eat-dog world and if you sit on the side lines like a wall flower you're not going to notch-up any brownie points. In fact non-participation is often viewed as a failing, a weakness, a chink in your armour.

So how do you make your voice heard when everyone else is talking? Here are 8 tips to help you get your message across.

Grab air space when you can

Air space, or floor-time, is the crux of the matter. When everyone is talking over each other this chaos may seem impenetrable; as soon as there's a lapse in the conversation, no matter how small, grab the air space. Stand up if necessary so that everyone knows you've got the floor.

Use body language

Use positive body language to show that you have something to say. Shy away or stare out of the window and you'll be ignored. Look at the speaker, raise your eyebrows if you don't agree or are surprised at what they're saying, they might then ask for your thoughts giving you the opportunity to have your say.

Make a statement

Sometimes being tactful isn't the way to go. Making a bold statement such as “I've got a very different opinion on that” in a very loud voice may just silence your colleagues for that split second you need to grab the air space.

Pump up the volume

In disorganised, rowdy meetings it's acceptable for you to pump up the volume as much as the next person, within reason, just as long as conversations don't end up as shouting matches. Raise your voice in a polite, but authoritative manner; showing your assertiveness may gain you recognition as having good leadership skills.

Be succinct

Once you've got your air space and the floor-time be succinct; get your point or message across as quickly as you can, because someone else could interrupt and start talking across you within a very short space of time.

Start a side conversation

Often disorganised meetings have a tendency to break into sub groups. Take the lead and begin a side conversation with others who look as if they're being left out of the main discussion. Again this will show good leadership skills, it will also show that you have good awareness and social skills. However, make sure that the conversation you start is in-keeping with the topic of the meeting.

Use good social skills and assist others

You can also use your good social skills to assist others who appear to be struggling with the chaos. Say in a loud voice “what are your thoughts on that?” to encourage them to join in. You do need to be tactful when assisting others as you may be seen as interfering or playing mother-hen to those who would rather do things their own way and in their own time.

Repetition, repetition, repetition

You could try the age old trick of repetition. By repeating your opening statement over and over again until you're heard or taken notice of may seem a little out-dated but sometimes the oldest tricks actually work.

The next time you're in a meeting and it feels like you're trying to cross a busy motorway at commuter time just to get your voice heard, don't stand startled by the headlights like a rabbit, judge when the time is right, put your best foot forward and go for it.