Women in the Public Accounting Profession‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Females entering a traditionally male dominated profession have steadily increased in the last twenty years, with women comprising over 50 percent of all undergraduate accounting majors and about 26 percent of all undergraduate and graduate accounting faculty members (AAA, 1994; AICPA, 1994; Norgaard, 1989). This increased participation by women in accounting has also significantly impacted the public accounting arm of the profession. Today, women make up 50% of all new accountants. However, even with this large number of women entering the profession, CPA firms are having a hard time retaining them. With the high turnover rate for women, there are fewer women to promote to higher levels (Alter, 1991). "Only about 5% of the partners in accounting firms are women" (Burke, 1995). "A study by the American Women's Society of CPAs found that 40% of women CPAs have been in the profession for more than ten years, but only 20% of all management positions in CPA firms are held by women" (Borgia, 1994).