IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acbsfi/v10y2000i2p169-190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The changing genderization of the accounting workforce in the US, 1930-90

Author

Listed:
  • Charles Wootton
  • Barbara Kemmerer

Abstract

The accounting profession in 1930 was predominantly a male workforce. By 1990, the gender composition of accounting had changed dramatically. Women, who in 1930 had represented only 10 per cent of the accounting workforce, now represented over 50 per cent of the workforce and earned 53 per cent of the accounting degrees. Increases in the aggregate workforce were not accompanied by subsequent proportional increases in participation at the upper-management levels of accounting firms. Thus, what occurred was a stratified regenderization of the aggregate workforce rather than an overall regenderization of the accounting profession. This paper delineates the historical, cultural, legal, economic and educational forces that led to this changing genderization.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Wootton & Barbara Kemmerer, 2000. "The changing genderization of the accounting workforce in the US, 1930-90," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 169-190.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:10:y:2000:i:2:p:169-190
    DOI: 10.1080/095852000411023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/095852000411023
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/095852000411023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, 1979. "Statistics," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 18(4), October.
    2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, 1979. "Statistics," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 18(1), January.
    3. Goldin, Claudia, 1992. "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195072709.
    4. Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, 1979. "Statistics," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 18(2), April.
    5. Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, 1979. "Statistics," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 18(3), July.
    6. Lehman, Cheryl R., 1992. ""Herstory" in accounting: The first eighty years," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 261-285.
    7. Hooks, Karen L., 1992. "Gender effects and labor supply in public accounting: An agenda of research issues," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 343-366.
    8. Kirkham, Linda M. & Loft, Anne, 1993. "Gender and the construction of the professional accountant," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 507-558, August.
    9. Roberts, Jennifer & Coutts, J. Andrew, 1992. "Feminization and professionalization: A review of an emerging literature on the development of accounting in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 379-395.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Watson, A.P. & O'Donnell, F.R., 1985. "Direct coal liquefaction safety risks: Feedstock production and transportation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 10(7), pages 877-886.
    2. Edwards, Marion & Mackett, Roger L, 1996. "Developing new urban public transport systems : An irrational decision-making process," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 225-239, October.
    3. Paul Wonnacott & Ronald J. Wonnacott, 1982. "Free Trade between the United States and Canada: Fifteen Years Later," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 8(s1), pages 412-427, October.
    4. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "R&D and Productivity Growth at the Industry Level: Is There Still a Relationship?," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 213-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. John M. Abowd, 1990. "The NBER Immigration, Trade, and Labor Markets Data Files," NBER Working Papers 3351, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Jun Han & Wing Suen, 2011. "Age structure of the workforce in growing and declining industries: evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 167-189, January.
    7. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Grey, Christopher & Robson, Keith, 2005. ""Helping them to forget..": the organizational embedding of gender relations in public audit firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 469-490, July.
    8. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2007. "Motherhood: The key to the glass ceiling ? the case of the big four in France," HEC Research Papers Series 862, HEC Paris.
    9. Prindle, Allen M., 1980. "Evaluation Of The Base-Excess Plan For Leveling Seasonal Milk Production: Case Example Of Maryland," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 1-4, April.
    10. Lattimore, Pamela K. & Baker, Joanna R., 1997. "Demand estimation with failure and capacity constraints: An application to prisons," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 418-431, November.
    11. Ball, V. Eldon & Butault, Jean-Pierre & Nehring, Richard, 2001. "U.S. Agriculture, 1960-96 A Multilateral Comparison of Total Factor Productivity," Technical Bulletins 184330, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Dambrin, Claire & Lambert, Caroline, 2012. "Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16.
    13. Lambert, Caroline & Dambrin, Claire, 2006. "La question du genre en comptabilité : analyses théoriques et méthodologiques," HEC Research Papers Series 843, HEC Paris.
    14. Claire Dambrin & Caroline Virginie Lambert, 2006. "Le Plafond De Verre Dans Les Cabinets D'Audit Questions Theoriques Et Methodologiques," Post-Print halshs-00558352, HAL.
    15. Almer, Elizabeth Dreike & Lightbody, Margaret G. & Single, Louise E., 2012. "Successful promotion or segregation from partnership? An examination of the “post-senior manager” position in public accounting and the implications for women's careers," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 122-133.
    16. Maria-Victoria Uribe-Bohorquez & Juan-Camilo Rivera-Ordóñez & Isabel-María García-Sánchez, 2023. "Gender disparities in accounting academia: analysis from the lens of publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(7), pages 3827-3865, July.
    17. Lehman, Cheryl R., 2019. "Reflecting on now more than ever: Feminism in accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Barker, Patricia C. & Monks, Kathy, 1998. "Irish women accountants and career progression: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 813-823, November.
    19. Haynes, Kathryn, 2008. "Transforming identities: Accounting professionals and the transition to motherhood," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 620-642.
    20. Claire Dambrin & Caroline Virginie Lambert, 2006. "Le Plafond De Verre Dans Les Cabinets D'Audit – Questions Theoriques Et Methodologiques," Post-Print halshs-00548047, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:10:y:2000:i:2:p:169-190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABF21 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.