What a difference a decade can make. Just 10 years ago it was much more common for men to be in high ranking positions; however now an increasing number of female leaders are coming to the forefront both at a global level, with 14.2% of top executive global positions held by women*, and more recently, in Northern Ireland.

Within the finance industry you only have to look at some of the key global players – listed amongst the world’s most powerful leaders – to see evidence of this. Last year, Janet Yellen was nominated US Chair of the Federal Reserve making her the first woman to hold this position. Another extraordinary icon is Christine Lagarde, a French global leader, who in 2014 was ranked the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine and is currently at the helm of the International Monetary Fund.

In Northern Ireland, the number of women at Chief Executive level is growing steadily; Janet McCollum is CEO at Moy Park, Northern Ireland’s number one company. Other such examples include Elaine Birchall, CEO at SHS Group in Belfast; Darina Armstrong, CEO at Progressive Building Society; Sara Venning in NI Water; Ellvena Graham from Ulster Bank and Anne Higgins who leads Alliance Boots in Northern Ireland.

Despite this progress, a recent ACCA briefing paper ‘Increasing gender diversity to boost performance’ shows that many barriers still exist to achieving more equal representation of women, and other social groups, in senior management positions. The new paper aims to help those CFOs, senior finance professionals and HR professionals that are working alongside finance teams to understand the value of gender diversity and make the business case for diversity to their peers.

The report offers four fundamental rules for diversity and inclusion – establishing the business case, setting challenging targets for diversity, managing diversity and being transparent. Get this wrong and you damage the organisation’s bottom line, and its public reputation.

There is also still an issue with the gender pay gap, with the UK having the sixth-largest pay gap between men and women in the European Union (Eurostat). According to the Fawcett Society, the difference between men's and women's average pay is 15.7%; for part-timers, and those working in areas such as business and financial management, the difference is even greater at 34%. Whilst, official statistics from the Davies Review Annual Report 2015 reveals that female representation on FTSE boards is only at 23.5% in FTSE 100 companies.

If there is one profession that is leading the way in gender diversity and opening up opportunities it is accountancy. As more women are attracted to careers in finance, accountancy is continually moving towards a more balanced culture. Research from Talking Talent stated that accountancy is the best sector for retaining skilled women, with 94% of female accountants surveyed stating that their company embraces gender equality.

As the world’s leading global professional accountancy body, ACCA reflects and embraces gender diversity in the workplace with over 170,000 members worldwide, 46% of which are female. This figure has grown steadily from 43% to 46% in the short space of five years. It is also encouraging to see that of the current 8,000 plus ACCA students across the island of Ireland, 55% are female – the future of the profession is already looking more diverse.

Flexible working is seen by women in many professions as the single greatest factor which influences their career choice. The practicalities of combining career ambitions with parenthood, further compounded by the lack of affordable childcare and taxing of maternity pay, often results in  women  putting their careers on hold to raise their family. ACCA offers a highly flexible approach to learning so the steady influx of women seeking to do the qualification and then pursuing ACCA membership comes as little surprise.

There continues to be a need for more accountants, and competent finance professionals, at all levels. According to Brightwater Recruitment’s latest analysis of the finance sector, 2014 saw an increase in hiring within professional accountancy firms across the island of Ireland. In Northern Ireland this need for finance professionals could be even greater as despite improving economic conditions and new opportunities being created, research by Lucid Talk revealed that 67% of people don’t believe that their future is in Northern Ireland.

If the accountancy profession is going to continue to attract the most ambitious and brightest people, we need to encourage other businesses to create an environment in which everyone can achieve their potential, and organisations can reap all of the benefits associated with a more diverse workforce. 

ENDS

* Catalyst. Women CEOs of the S&P 500. New York: Catalyst, April 3, 2015.