This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is to Embrace Equity. What this means, in essence, is demonstrating equity in the workplace instead of simply talking about it. The International Women’s Day organisation states that, “A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA”. In other words, it’s not an additional benefit but an essential part of society and in the workplace. But what does this mean in practice, and how does this look in the accounting industry and within Mercer & Hole?
While a roughly equal number of male and female junior accountants have entered the profession over the last 10 years, this hasn’t translated into senior leadership positions, yet. Statistics gathered from the 2020 Accountancy Age “Top 50+50” survey show that while nearly half of all qualified accountants were female (45.47 percent), just one-fifth of senior roles within the sector was occupied by women. Firms talk about equal opportunities but there are many factors that play into this figure including societal expectations, employer policies and the availability of childcare, all of which can affect women’s career trajectories.
The Mercer & Hole team have put together a video with the firm’s key messages in support of International Women’s Day, along with Melisa Attisha who is the Executive Vice President at TAG Alliances. It’s important to mark International Women’s Day with our International alliance, made up of over 20,000 professionals in accountancy and law across the globe.
