[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.

[Anonymous]

I don't think I my boss pays me less than he would pay a man, given our situation. I'm in a very small town, and by small I mean, no pizza delivery, no Starbucks (that was for Sandra), and no Big 4! We don't even have 4 CPA's. There are only 3 FOR NOW. There will be four soon. I know that as professional women we have come a very long way in the last 50 or 60 years. My great aunt was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed (she saw and did some incredible stuff) and later went on to get a Masters in Accounting. She was told that she didn't need to sit for the CPA exam. I believe she said their exact words were “Women don't take that test. Honey you need Mrs. in front of your name, not CPA behind it.”

I do believe environment plays a huge role in disparities between male and female salaries, in any profession. I'm in a “good ol' boy” town. That is a fact of life. Some people have almost flat out refused to listen to me and take me seriously, until they get in a real jam and then they are more than happy to do what I tell them to do. If people would just do things my way to begin with, we wouldn't have near as many problems. LOL

[Anonymous]

This whole “Gender Income Disparity “thing is stupid. YOur wages are determined based on your education, experience & negotiaition skills..

@cashmoney10: What does size have to do with intellect?hahahahhaah because we have the same number of neurons,, :-p

[musicamor]

There is definitely a gender income gap in my current place of employment; heck, there's a gender issue altogether. I really work for an old-school company–a good ol' boys club, to be exact. Since we are privately held by one gentleman, he can set the rules. I did not fully grasp how their culture does not fit well with me, but I am stuck.

All of the executives and VPs are men–they do not allow women at those levels. Although I have not gotten specific salary information from my female counterparts, they all speak to the huge disparity that exists at my company. I have only been here two years and have witnessed this old school mentality firsthand.

The dress code will be shocking to most of you on here since you're young (I am 28 but started in a firm that had a strict dress code). Women cannot wear pants and must wear hosiery; men have to wear ties (suit jackets when in meetings); we do not have “jean days” and are never allowed to wear jeans. The CEO upholds the owners' view concerning this by saying, “You could be working at the plant in the hot furnaces, melting lead; you should consider it a priviledge to dress like this.”

Texas CPA - licensed in 2012!!!

[mgoloubenko]

This topic in general drives me for lack of better words “bat shit crazy”. To be honest, I really don't consider myself a feminist or anything like that in particular in regards to my life outside of work. I'm actually pretty traditional. However, when it comes to women in business or power positions (C- level executives) I really feel like our society is soooo far behind in gender equality. It's my biggest aspiration to become the CFO of a company one day.

In grad school at USC I took a class that dealt exclusively with having Fortune 500 CFO's come into the class to speak with the students about how they basically started in public accounting and were then able to take on these pretty incredible roles for companies like Disney, Mattel, Edison and many others big names. There were about 12 CFO's in all and out of all of them guess how many were women? One. I felt like the professor shuffled her in there just because. She is the CFO of a large California not-for-profit and her discussion with the class was so incredible disappointing to me. She admitted she had virtually no control over actual budgeting for the entity, because that was left to the President of the company and that he approved pretty much all these fiscal decisions that I generally associate with the CFO role. She was also divorced with no kids. In general, it shook my faith in myself about whether or not I could do something like this in the future seeing as I really do believe “you can have it all” as a woman.

I then recently saw an article about how only about 15 (not exactly sure how many, but definitely less than 20) women were running Fortune 500 companies. Like tell me those numbers are not completely ridiculous. I know so many women who are generally sharper, more dedicated, etc. than their male counterparts. I also think that because the people who generally are in charge of promotions are kind of old-timers and it's difficult for them to overcome some of their own traditional ideals. I ado believe that there are a lot of guys out there who are absolutely intimidated and threatened by a women doing his job. These are the guys who tend to throw out great phrases like “Get back in the kitchen”….” Make me a sandwich”. While no one has specifically said this to me, sayings like that completely fuel my desire to succeed and one day become their boss. So while I do think women have a tendency to make less money, I think it's as a direct result of the fact that we are still not considered to be just as good/valuable as the boys. This is seen all over our society but definitely highlighted in Business/Politics.

FAR 4/9/12- PASSED
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USC MAcc- Fight on!

They say good things come to those who wait, but only those things that are left by those who hustle.

[TaffTax]

Where I work, it appears the men make more than women. I know this because (nosy me) I saw in the bookkeeper's office a detail of each employee and their earnings for the pay period. A senior female auditor (who has her CPA license) is making around $50k while a senior guy w/o his CPA is getting $75k. A guy who was hired at the same time as the female senior is now making over $100K, he doesn't have his license yet either.

[MeaDebitum]

So, the female CFO works for a Fortune 500 not-for-profit?

[mla1169]

TaffTax, I think you may be missing an important factor or two as I have a very tough time swallowing a woman and a man getting hired at the same time for the same level position, the female with her CPA and the male without, and the male making double the female.

Something else that you must have missed.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Mom2two]

Of course I have an opinion on this thread! 🙂 A previous company I worked at (Fortune 500) has a terrible boy's club and yes, all of them were grossly overpaid and mostly incompetent. I promised myself after that position I would be a better negotiator and not ever question what I am worth. I was doing most of the work and letting some idiot male take the credit, yeah that was not happening again. When we moved, I did a much better job of negotiating and refused to take just any position. Of course I had experience and was not a recent college grad so I was able to move into my new position fairly easy and had a few offers. That was nice! But better than that is coming to work and knowing I am getting fairly compensated for my hard work. So I would strongly encourage women to negotiate and don't take just anything. You have to exude some of the ego male's have (of course in a way that does not come across as bi*****).

Also I kind of disagree with mgoloubenko…when I was younger I thought for sure women can have it all. Just be organized and a hard worker….oh yeah and superwoman and we can be C level executives, 3 kids, a house in the burbs (that is actually clean), healthy dinner on the table by 6, attend all the kids functions, and the list goes on. 7 years later, I don't feel that way. I don't think we can have it all but maybe can have what our version of have it all is. I still have a great career that I am proud of, awesome kids, messy house, dinner on the table….but I don't attend all the functions. It's just not realistic. At least not for me. I learned that 4 years ago the hard way when my body shut down from stress after pushing myself for all those years. Unfortunately until society changes and there is more flexibility in a majority of places, I don't think we will see those c-level executive positions being held by women. It is too hard on their families. And emotionally speaking, your opinion might change. After my daughter was born, suddenly those aspirations didn't exist anymore but getting as much time with her as I could did. I could go on and on but my main points were I don't think women can have it all in society's eyes, but maybe need to redefine what have it all means. And we need to for sure negotiate and raise the bar for all women.

B: 81 (3X) May 2012
A: 76 (1X) Nov 2011
R: 86 (2X) Feb 2012
F: 64, April 2011, retake 10.01.12 - 75!!!!!!!!!!

[musicamor]

@mla1169…agreed–they could have different compensation structures, i.e., some people only have a base salary–not a bonus. The female could be compensated heavily with a bonus and not as much on the base side.

Texas CPA - licensed in 2012!!!

[Minimorty]

Ladies – Do you get along with other ladies in the work place as well as you get along with all of the men? Until going out on my own, I had only worked for one mid-sized company. It always seemed like the women were catty as hell with each other, but worked just fine with the other men. Is this common in other companies? If so, does this play a role in why some women are passed up for leadership positions? Just wondering.

Btw – I have always preferred working with women. It is just more pleasant.

[mgoloubenko]

@meadebitum…missed the point, but no.

FAR 4/9/12- PASSED
BEC 7/13/12- PASSED
AUD 8/16/12- Ughhh 71, Rematch: 90!!!
REG-12/6/12 PASSED

USC MAcc- Fight on!

They say good things come to those who wait, but only those things that are left by those who hustle.

[TaffTax]

@mla1169 I'm not in the audit dept but just saw the numbers. Also, an audit intern told me that she will make more

at her new job (entry level auditor) than the female senior here. The intern is the one who told me the man and the woman were hired at the same time. I have no idea as I haven't been here that long.

[TaffTax]

@mla1169 I'm not in the audit dept but just saw the numbers. Also, an audit intern told me that she will make more

at her new job (entry level auditor) than the female senior here. The intern is the one who told me the man and the woman were hired at the same time. I have no idea as I haven't been here that long.

[TaffTax]

Oops, it double posted. How do I delete the second one?

[Mom2two]

HAHA minimorty. Nailed it. Maybe. I think it depends on the company. When I was at Big 4, no. I networked with all levels (staff to partner) and I never experienced anything but professionalism. It was a shocker when I transitioned to industry how rude people were! And catty and backstabbers. Going in as a manager of staff, OMG I had to watch my back. Of course my first position out of public I didn't know then what I know now and made some mistakes and got caught up in the cattiness. I am not sure why that is. It's like hello stop sabotaging each other and we won't have the reputation that makes some men not want to report to women, promote women, etc. After I left there just growing as a person I realized what to do, who to avoid and to always try to set the example of a professional woman. So far it is not held me back as I have continued to advance my career. Again just one person, but I believe if I can be the change and maybe influence one person, then that one person will influence the next, and so on. I do think the younger generations that are coming up bring a lot of promise and I am pretty excited to see how the workforce changes.

B: 81 (3X) May 2012
A: 76 (1X) Nov 2011
R: 86 (2X) Feb 2012
F: 64, April 2011, retake 10.01.12 - 75!!!!!!!!!!

[Author]

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