[Anonymous]

Hmmm, so I’m curious to hear the opinions of the A71 ladies…do you, generally speaking, as a gender, feel like you make significantly less money than your male counterparts? Accounting for information asymmetry in most cases, do you perceive that you make less money than male colleagues? I’ve felt that we’ve (as a society) come a long way in bridging the gap between men and women in pay, but an article that I just read said women were still pulling down about $0.91 to the $1 of men’s salary (it was initially like 77%, but after compensating for industry differences and educational differences, it came closer to 91%). So this article got me thinking…I wonder if that transcends private industry into public accounting. As female CPAs (or in-progress CPAs), do you feel like you make less money than men? If you do, why do you think that is? Do you think it’s flat-out discrimination? Or do you think it’s because of unavoidable biological life events that may deter a woman’s progress up the ladder, so-to-speak (i.e., pregnancy, child rearing, etc.)? I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

[jeff]

Threads like this are a hanging curve ball for drama.

[Minimorty]

I saw the thread title and immediately started laughing. Knew this thread would not survive more than a couple hours.

[Anonymous]

Haha then put the DRAMA NINJA on standby, but I can assure you that my personal motives are pure 🙂 I am only curious to hear the opinions of my female A71ers as it relates to the perception of a wage gender gap in the field of accounting.

[jeff]

Translation: you're bored 🙂

[Anonymous]

Haha, noooo, when I'm bored, I start OT threads…when I've read something thought provoking, I create relevant threads and seek the valued opinions of my peers 🙂

[mla1169]

Hard to say for me. I am OCD about researching stuff like salaries online. I know I make $10k less than the “average” for my position in my area for a similar sized company. That said he took a huge chance by hiring me with zero experience as a controller. Do I think I could be making more? Yeah I am terrible at negotiating. Do I think it's because of my gender? No, my boss would be that cheap with anybody.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[abacus]

I make less than a male coworker of mine. We both have similar education and work history, although technically I had a little more professional experience prior to being hired. We were both hired in a project based role and were promoted to an accounting role after one year. He started a few months before I did and we discussed his salary when he was promoted and I expected the same increase. When I was offered $2k less, I attempted to negotiate using the robert half salary report and other salary data specific to my industry/location, but was shot down. They told me they do not negotiate salary with internal candidates. I had negotiated upon hire, but either did not negotiate enough to begin with or was not given the same increase upon being promoted.

I have read that there a few things that continue the gap in gender pay. 1. women typically do not negotiate pay and 2. They are more willing to accept a lower salary early in their career which follows them throughout their career. Whether that be because we do not want to seem too aggressive or because we do not feel we are worth as much, I do not know.

Interesting thread. I am currently interviewing with public accounting firms and would be interested to hear other experiences.

BEC 81
AUD 76
FAR 70, 76
REG 58, 78! DONE!

"I am not my intentions. I am my actions."

[Anonymous]

Thank you, MLA and Abacus…I agree…it IS an interesting thread. I also wonder what the main cause could be. I have heard the contention that female candidates tend to not negotiate as aggressively, but not that they are more willing to accept less pay. I think you may be onto something, though…something that may happen very early in two identical careers (one a man, one a woman) that becomes pervasive and *material (ha — audit language) as it accumulates throughout time for the woman. Interesting point, abacus. Thank you for your insight.

[littlenumberrobot]

Great thread. I only have experience about NOT neogiating well… Have no real experience with male co-wokers. All mine have had more experience than I.

Job #1 – right out of college would have taken anything and well I did. Was given a raise 6 months later that brought me up to where I should have started….

Job #2 – totally my fault. I was shy and was absolutely shocked my boss asked ME what I wanted to be paid. He didnt even give me a number first, it was all in my court. I should have known I said too low when he gave to me what I asked for haha. But I have amazing office. I mean half day Fridays and no OT between April and Jan… I'm cool with that. Hoping for a raise though come my one year mark…

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[Anonymous]

I had to post it. Sorry, ladies 😀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6hx1nXe41A

[mla1169]

I did have some negotiation skills though. They offered me 2 weeks vacation and I got 3, and the profit based bonus (30% last year!) was offered after the first year of service but I'm getting it thr first year. Girl has some skillz but would give myself a B- on negotiating.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[nimmle02]

eh….at my firm we all start the same then they “pay for performance” (raises and bonuses based on your rating from 1-5). If you're awesome you make a lot more money…if you suck, you don't.

REG - 5/21/2012 - 85
FAR - 7/24/2012 - 86
BEC - 8/27/2012 - 85
AUD - 10/5/2012 - 72....rematch 1/3/13 (waiting)

[Anonymous]

That's an interesting point, Nimmle. Do you think there are any differences in the way men are rated vs. women? It sounds like the general perception is that women are (at least in Accounting) paid fairly. I'm glad that's the case…my mom is a senior vp for a bank and she kicks the crap out of her male counterparts! I'm not sure what men are better at vs. what women are better at, but it's always been my perception that men tend to be more analytical (separating emotion from decision making), whereas women tend to be better at multi-tasking, memory, and compassion. No science to back my claims, just my thoughts…however right or wrong they may be.

[Mrs 300]

In my experience, I make the same as men at my level. I graduated the same accounting program and got hired at the same firm (PwC) as a male in my class. We were pretty good friends so I “forced” him to tell me his salary for each year. They were remarkably similar. Both of us were high performers. He separated himself the year that I took a 7 month maternity leave. Total bullsh1t that I didn't get a 15% raise that year. <

---

KIDDING.

I do think that in Big 4 they do a pretty good job of giving raises based solely on performance. I've worked with people from 4 differenct PwC offices and that consensus has been the same. I'm sure people can and will shoot down my theory though.

Cash$ – you are so on my list!

REG - 80 (Becker only)
BEC - 76 (Becker only)
AUD - 71, 76 (Becker only)
FAR - 65, 74, 81! (Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja notes & Audio)

CPA Class of 2012 🙂

[Trisha]

I can't give much insight based on my experience pay wise. I think I am fairly compensated for my position, but could probably make more if I went elsewhere. I dont think that is based on my sex though. My boss and I had a conversation about this, and his take is that women end up making less because of family. Essentially we take time off to bear and often raise children, which overall lowers what we make over our lifetime. I can see this point, and also think that we take much criticism for this. Either we are bad moms for going back too soon or aren't “motivated” enough to make career number one. I would have to agree it has effected me. I made a career change to accounting after child number one and my main reason I won't leave my current position is because of the flexibility I have schedule wise to be with my family as much as I am ~ a bit rare in the accounting world. Also, I think thie pay gap is probably larger in less progressive areas. I'm in Portland, OR, and I think maybe my experience would be different in a smaller, more Podunk town.

REG 72, 86 and DONE!!!
BEC 80 🙂
FAR 72, 78 🙂
AUD 73, 76 🙂

[Author]

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