Education is mobility – and nothing makes you more mobile in finance than an accountancy qualification. But despite being eminently qualified and committed, women still find themselves having to make their case.
Yet another generation will qualify only to face the same problems as the women before them: few women in their industry in leadership positions, few even in management, and careers that stall when they choose to have children, hit the menopause or take on caring roles for ageing parents.
It remains true that as long as women continue to be overwhelmingly responsible for important domestic concerns, their advancement and opportunities will continue to be suppressed. Some find their careers stymied even without this. Prejudice prevails.
New opportunities
But is it possible that the global pandemic has thrown women a lifeline? Maybe. ACCA president Jenny Gu, who opened the women’s webinar, spoke about how Covid-19 has ‘demolished the old template for professional jobs – nine to five, office-based – which was founded on the needs of 19th-century factories and already obsolete’. She added that ‘smarter, forward-looking businesses offer their people time off for personal growth, family care, entrepreneurial endeavour and community work’.
Our mission is to empower women in finance roles and inspire the next generation to see finance as a career choice
The hope is that women can ride that wave of opportunity into the recovery. But the emergence of such change is only possible, not probable.
There are already indications of businesses ramping up digital surveillance of their employees, which may reinforce ‘presenteeism’ rather than productivity, and researchers across the globe have compiled data that shows that, in at least 18 countries, women continue to shoulder the bulk of the work running households. So how can women make permanent the moderate gains in flexibility catalysed by the coronavirus?
Find your peers, tell your story
Speakers at ACCA’s women’s webinar described what they would do now to seize and cement change. For Amanda Pullinger, CEO of 100 Women in Finance, the solution is peer engagement and visibility.
‘Our mission is to empower women in finance roles and inspire the next generation to see finance as a career choice,’ she told delegates of the virtual panel discussion. ‘We have 500 leading women in the industry opening our talks, speaking on our panels and closing our meetings. During a crisis our instinct is to hunker down, but what women need now is continuity, community and connectivity.’
Chengai Ruredzo FCCA, financial controller at Open Energy Market and an international Masters Athlete, agreed, saying: ‘Find your peer group, find your people’.
Our needs are valid and reasonable. It’s ok to ask for the flexibility you need and ok to ask the men in your life to shoulder their share
Frances Weston, MD at Econocom, echoed the importance of continuity, and added: ‘Resilience is key. Find what motivates you to move forward, what gives you strength. Hold onto your team. You can turn a situation round in any way you like – but you have to have education. ACCA does that.’
Zoe Whitman FCCA, a mother of two small children, had to close her business because of the pandemic, but she quickly found another job. She emphasised the need for women to be honest from the off about what they want: ‘This isn’t a women’s issue, it’s everybody’s issue. Our needs are valid and reasonable. It’s ok to ask for the flexibility you need and ok to ask the men in your life to shoulder their share.’
All participants agreed that education is the foundation: ‘Finance is everywhere, maths is the language you need, and the discipline of accounting is the nuts and bolts of understanding business,’ said Pullinger.
‘Go back to the basics,’ said Weston. While the path to power isn’t always clear, women who get educated, share their story and stay visible will succeed.
Further information
Find out about more ACCA events.
