Status and trends of women in the accounting profession

The issues fall into four areas: the organization, the profession, client expectations and the individual.

Organization - is defined by senior management who do not understand the issue of women's retention and advancement. The flexibility or work that an individual request is seen as 'second-class' or if you won't sacrifice all for the job, are you worthy of advancement? Also the work load of upper management is not for everyone. It is harder and risker and involves more time, which may turn some women away.

Profession - with the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, it has put more pressure on for more time and more stress. Some women and even men are looking for other positions with less stress and greater work / life balance.

Client expectations - there is a lot of competition in the world and high client expectations have a lot to do with who will be the primary contact for the client. With this in mind, work models may have to be re arranged to meet the client's needs, which means a shifting of your own work / life schedule.