‘When I talk to young female accountants, I get a sense that they have just as much opportunity as their male counterparts,’ says Melanie Proffit, ACCA president. ‘It’s when you get to the more senior levels that you might encounter bias. It’s when you start to climb a ladder where we’ve not got equality yet. That’s where the opportunity lies for leaders to think differently and create environments where talent can thrive irrespective of gender.’
Speaking to AB ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, Melanie points to ‘a feeling that there are all sorts of rules and regulations about fairness and equality, but sometimes in spite of all of those, the culture in an organisation means that they’re not really living by it.’
Empowering others
That said, Melanie and her fellow ACCA officers, deputy and vice presidents Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan and Cristina Gutu, are extremely positive about what the profession can mean for female accountants.
Datuk Zaiton, the daughter of a Singapore taxi driver, began her career in audit, then went into banking before setting up and running a rating agency and a financial advisory firm. She went on to hold numerous non-executive board roles and now chairs Malaysia’s first digital bank.
Cristina’s first taste of commerce was being paid by neighbours to queue outside shops when food deliveries arrived during the Communist era. Growing up in Romania, Cristina searched for purpose amid the confusing and chaotic collapse of Communism. She found it with ACCA – what she describes as the key to a better life. Now she is leading the learning and development agenda with KPMG in Romania and Moldova, and supports others through mentoring and coaching.
‘I came to realise that my true passion lies in empowering others to unlock their potential,’ she says. ‘There is a unique joy in witnessing the spark that ignites when knowledge fuels curiosity, when self-belief overcomes uncertainty, and when a sense of purpose drives people to excel.’
In time things will change, and ACCA is a major, positive force in making it happen
As for Melanie’s career, she grew up in the English East Midlands and was inspired to the pursue the ACCA qualification when she was 15. ‘I was good at maths, my name is Proffitt, and my uncle said it was the perfect career for me,’ she says. ‘He was right. I never considered anything else after that.’
Her career has taken in the high-octane world of Formula 1, a luxury packaging firm, a Harley Street health clinic and the hospitality industry – and the ACCA qualification has been key. ‘Getting my ACCA membership was a game changer,’ says Melanie. ‘It meant I had the confidence to push myself, to say yes to opportunities, and to take myself outside the comfort zone.’
Take chances
Melanie encourages women to take chances, and back themselves to go as far as their ambition and talent takes them.
‘I do think there is an element of women holding themselves back,’ she says. ‘I think there is that inherent tendency to overthink things and to listen to their inner critic more than the men do.
‘I just returned from Pakistan, for example, and it was really pleasing to see female leaders who were sitting on panels, and providing those role models for young women. But it’s not enough. In time it will change, I’m convinced of that, and ACCA is a major, positive force in making it happen.’
Meanwhile, Datuk Zaiton has been working to promote the profession in Malaysia, for the past decade running a charity, MyPAC, which gives students from poor families the chance to study accountancy, mainly with ACCA. ‘Once qualified, they get good jobs and it’s really a sustainable way to take them across the poverty line,’ she says. ‘We have produced 1,260 professional accountants.’
Cristina understands first-hand what ACCA can do to promote opportunities for both men and women: ‘Professionally, when I think about where I started, it has been remarkable to reach an executive role in the Big Four, and now embrace what I consider my greatest honour: becoming the first vice president from continental Europe in ACCA’s history. That’s what opportunity means.’
