A newly released ACCA survey, Paths to the top – best practice leadership development for finance professionals, found that, although female accountancy students might make up half or more of those entering the profession, very few were found at senior levels.

Of almost 3500 ACCA members almost two-thirds of respondents feel it was easier for men to become finance leaders than women.

As of August 2007, there was only one female financial director in the FTSE 100 and less than 10% of partners with the UK Big Four were female. In all, 63% of respondents felt ‘it is easier for men to become finance leaders than for women’.

Work-life balance was cited as the main reason why it was harder for women to get to the top (67%) but institutional bias and cultural expectations were cited by 46% of respondents as barriers. ‘Clearly, this remains an issue for the profession and employers to focus on more as insufficient progress appears to have been made in the last few decades,’ the report said.

The survey found 44% of respondents felt the recruitment process was transparent, but significantly, a third felt that it was not.

Further reading:

ACCA launches ethics module

ACCA calls for big changes at Business Link