The participation of women in the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants: 100 years of social stereotyping?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploration of the involvement of women in the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants of throughout its 100 year history.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on archival analysis of professional journal and yearbooks of the New Zealand Institute, as well as the minutes of the Institute, and those of its predecessors (the Accountants' and Auditors' Association and the Incorporated Institute of New Zealand.)

Findings

Social stereotyping appears to have influenced women's membership and participation in the accounting profession in New Zealand. Although the number of women in accounting has risen dramatically since the 1980s, and women now have a more prominent role in the profession, they have still not gained equality with their male colleagues.

Originality/value

Research on women in accounting, both in New Zealand and overseas, has tended to focus on women in public accounting (Trapp et al., 1989; Lehman, 1992; Gammie and Gammie, 1995; Whiting and Wright, 2001). This paper contributes new knowledge about the contributions that women have made to their professional associations and how those organizations responded to their women members.

Citation

Devonport, B.F. (2008), "The participation of women in the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants: 100 years of social stereotyping?", Pacific Accounting Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 269-281. https://doi.org/10.1108/01140580810920245