Careers

Glass ceilings – a PQ magazine update

Disengagement from career and the workplace during career breaks, to have children or undertake other caring responsibilities, is a major challenge to retaining women in the profession, says the ICAEW.

The comments come following PQ magazine’s story last month that just 14% of partners in the Big 4 are women. The ICAEW went on to say it is convinced of the importance of attracting and retaining women in the profession, and having recognised that there is a ‘problem’ is trying to address the issue through programmes such as ‘Narrowing the Gap’ which supports members preparing for career breaks.
Meanwhile, large companies in France will be forced to reserve at least 40% of their boardroom places for women. This is quiet an order as currently just 10% of boardroom members are female. In the UK the figure is 12%.
It also appears law firms are no better. It also appears women make up one in six partners at the big law firms, according to a new study from the Lawyer. And again it is the biggest firms who are among the worse at retaining their qualifieds. Just 12% of Freshfields partners are female. At Slaughter and May it is better, with 19% of its partners women. Out of 2,215 partners some 323 (14.5%) are women.
So what do you think? Do you feel there is still a glass ceiling for women in the accountancy profession? Contact graham@pqaccountant.com

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