Women aren�t the only ones interested in trading partnership possibilities for lifestyle. In a recent survey, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants found partnerships were the goal of only 41 percent of women senior managers and 65 percent of their male colleagues. Of staff members, 25 percent of females and 62 percent of males had partnership as a goal.For a decade, the AICPA has been conducting work/life studies as a temperature check of women�s issues in accounting, explains Citigroup Vice President Linda Bergen, chair of the association�s Work/Life and Women�s Initiatives Executive Committee.
�Things we thought were impossible 12 years ago - a greater number of women in partnership ranks and the agility of flexible work options - have become a reality. While a lot of women in the accounting profession are staying longer, a lot are opting for principals, directors and other titles where they do not become partner,� she reports.
�Flexibility has given them the other alternatives, but if they�re opting not to take advantage of the potential to become a partner, then for the long-term and for the leadership of the accounting, that�s troublesome,� Bergen concludes.
Elizabeth Almer, the Portland State University Professor who developed the study, worries that gender and sociological differences (for instance, male CPAs are much more likely to have a stay-at-home spouse) are channeling women onto non-partnership tracks.
�When you look at leadership within the firms, aside from the fact that men predominate, they were the sole or primary wage earner in almost every instance,� she says, then asks: �What kind of role model does this present to women who are part of a dual career couple where they�re an equal or greater wage earner to their husband? Is it a subtle message that women shouldn�t be shooting for the partnership?�
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