Studies on gender inequality in various professions

Contemporary studies in other professional fields have also shown the existence of gender inequality and invisible barriers that restrict the access of women to career advancement, professional development, and wage equality. ^{Powell, Bagilhole and Dainty (2009)} comment that the engineering field professions have always been characteristic of a male occupation. Furthermore, they report that strategies for reducing gender inequality to increase the number of women in engineering professions were developed, but the success of said strategies were considered to be limited.

^{Michelson (2009)} suggests the existence of gender inequality in the legal profession of private law in the labor market of China. The author shows that, although there is a quantitative expansion in job opportunities for female lawyers, their careers have been qualitatively, in terms of status and income, less valued compared to male professionals.

The study by ^{Walsh (2012)} examines the aspirations of career progress and the perceptions of opportunities for female lawyers in Wales and England. The study finds that strong aspirations in career progress (partners in law firms) does not necessarily prevent a balanced lifestyle, integrating work and personal life. Moreover, regarding opportunities, even women with strong aspirations realize that their promotion has been restricted, proving the existence of barriers for career progress.

^{England (2010)} offers contemporary arguments to explain the little progress in the valuation and professional equality of women. The author highlights that women showed strong incentive to enter the men dominated professions, whereas on the other hand, men have little incentive to take on women dominated functions (nursing, physiotherapy, social work, among others). In this sense, most people follow the typical gender paths, making inequality persist in many professions. For women, inequality persists in top management jobs, management jobs, and jobs that require direct contact with clients. On the other hand, men have low rise in nursing and educational activities, as well as in the social and health areas.

The arguments presented by ^{England (2010)}, that women have occupied health professions was in part challenged by ^{Adams (2010)} by considering status factors and remuneration, suggesting that in professional areas dominated by women there is also incidence of gender inequality: men are still predominant in the functions of higher status and remuneration, such as medicine and dentistry, while women hold support functions such as nursing.

^{Crompton and Lyonette (2011)} report that in Britain the medical profession is internally segregated by gender, where usually women hold lower clinical specialties. In general, they suggested that there is sexual discrimination of doctors and accountants with high qualification, and the factor underlying the trajectory of different careers related to gender remains responsible for housework and caring for the family which, in a nutshell, is practiced predominantly by women.

Gender inequality in the accounting profession

Historically, gender conflicts have restricted women from taking the identity of accountants, therefore, the top ranks of the accounting profession have been reserved for men (^{Lehman, 1992}). ^{Konstans and Ferris (1981)} have mentioned that in audit, the turnover rate of women and men during the first year of work is not very different. However, in the third year the turnover rate doubles for women. ^{Wescott and Seiler (1986)} suggest that women resign due to dissatisfaction and not for personal reasons such as marriage, family and/or children.

Traditionally, leadership positions in organizations in the United States and other parts of the world are occupied mainly by men (^{Stelter, 2002}). Even with the increasing number of women in the labor market and in management positions, their access to leadership positions remains limited (^{Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt and Van Engen, 2003}; ^{Oakley, 2000}; ^{Ridgeway, 2001}; ^{Stelter, 2002}) indicating the existence of barriers that prevent the professional advancement of women.

^{Oakley (2000)} argues that there are three categories that explain the rise of women barriers: (1) corporate practices, such as recruitment, retention, and promotion; (2) behavioral and cultural causes, such as stereotypes and preferred leadership style; and (3) structural and cultural explanations rooted in feminist theory. Therefore, this study sought to focus on the business practices of recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in the accounting profession. ^{Meyerson and Fletcher (2000)} note that a woman could miss a promotion to a male colleague with less experience only because of gender discrimination.

Historically, the inclusion of women in the labor market is marked by progress and delays. On the one hand, there was an increase in female participation in the labor market, with access to careers, professions, and prestigious positions; on the other hand, high unemployment of women, poor conditions for the performance of the work, and female work predominantly in precarious and informal activities (^{Bruschini, 2007}).

^{Kelan (2008)} reveals three distinct ways in which gender is addressed. First, the awareness discourse seeks to reiterate the stereotype of gender through the representation of women. Second, in the individualization speech, gender discriminatory elements lost their importance. Finally, women are considered as ideal workers for the future. This indicates that there is little room for speeches that continue with the inequality awareness experienced by women in relation to men supporting the rhetoric for a post-feminism climate.

^{Dwyer and Roberts (2004)} analyzed contemporary social relations on gender in the public accounting profession in the United States. The results showed that, due to the inability of women to challenge the norms of domesticity, the equal participation of women in the profession cannot be expected.

^{Madero Gómez (2010)} investigated the importance of 27 factors of human resources in the working career of individuals. Among the main results, the education level, communication skills, and family support are highlighted as reducing gender inequality factors in the careers of women.

^{Crompton and Lyonette (2011)} also report in their study that, in Britain, women are restricted from taking high ranking positions in the career of accounting.

^{Lupu (2012)} explored the mechanisms that stimulate the infrequency of women in top positions in accounting firms in France. The results showed that the career model characterized by ascendancy and constant mobility does not fit for most women, especially those with children. On the other hand, there are several alternative ways that women can pursue to continue balancing their professional and family aspirations: part-time work, narrow specialization, support work, and leaving early.

In a study conducted in Germany, ^{Bach (2014)} showed that gender inequality is much deeper than simple wage comparison. Using the income tax returns and considering wages, income per capita, and real estate, the study found that German women have obtained significantly lower income than men.

^{Brighenti, Jacomossi and Silva (2015)} investigated gender inequality in the performance of accountants and auditors in the labor market of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. They concluded that even with an average range of education equal to that of men, the average pay for women is lower, suggesting gender inequality in the accounting labor market. Additionally, they verified if age, length of employment, education, and size of the company could justify the differences in pay between genders; however, these were similar for men and women, showing evidence of gender inequality.

^{Cisnero (2015)} examined the differences in the background of new businesses started by men and women in Mexico City. The factors included in the analysis were professional experience, educational level, history of family entrepreneurs, age, gender, initial capital with which the company was formed, planning level, among others. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the performance of new businesses, but there were differences in the amount of initial capital and income levels reported by men and women. This result proves the existence of inequality in third party capital availability for women starting new undertakings. For ^{Cisneros (2015)} there was a sharp increase in female entrepreneurship throughout the world, and although higher in developed economies, it was also significant in Latin America. Particularly, cases of gender inequality in Latin America are no different from the rest of the world. Women have been taking a higher position in economics and business, but have not yet equaled men (^{World Bank, 2010}).

Recently, there have been major policy initiatives in an effort to develop standards and work cultures in favor of reconciling professional with personal activities, a factor that can contribute to a reduction in gender inequality in professions (^{Muzio and Tomlinson, 2012}). However, the literature refers to the inference that there is still much work to be done for the greater professional equality between men and women, both in the accounting profession and in other professional activities.

Regulation and the differences between the accounting profession and Auditing

In the accounting profession, there are diverse opportunities and fields of activity. ^{Da Silva et al. (2011)} explains that through their work and judgment, the accountant (accountant or accounting technician) can perform various functions: register, quantify, design, analyze, evaluate, direct, and produce other elements, on which the economic, administrative and financial institutions depend, especially in deciding whether to keep or redirect actions as well as in the business direction and management of organizations.

It should be noted that the CFC Resolution No. 560 of October 28, 1983, provides the respective functions of the accounting profession, among which Auditing is included. Thus, the duties of an accounting officer are listed as: analyst, advisor, assistant, auditor (internal or external), consultant advisor, revenue controller, controller, educator, writer or technical writer, accounting or tax bookkeeping, subordinate executor, tax auditor, organizing legislator, expert, researcher, planner, teacher or lecturer, editor, and reviewer.

However, ^{Ricardino and Carvalho (2004)} reported the existence of a gap of nearly two hundred years separating the formalization of the use of double entry bookkeeping in the Portuguese Royal Treasury, through the Decree of June 28, 1808, and the introduction of the mandatory use of Independent Audit, on June 14, 1965. In both cases, they were regulated through legal documents. ^{Lopes (2002)} notes that the base on legal structures has made the model more focused on civil law, that is, accounting generally regulated directly and legally by the central government.

In this context, the auditing activity emerged in Brazil almost a century ago, but because of the legalistic characteristics of the country, its practice was regulated only from 1965. With regard to the scientific production, accounting professionals and academics, publications on this topic emerged approximately in 1928. As a subject, Auditing, initially called Review & Forensic Accounting, was included officially in the curricula of the Higher Courses in Accounting from 1945 onward.

This was done in order to differentiate Auditing, -an area of the accountant, or of accounting-which is the profession itself. According to Attie (2009) auditing “is a dedicated accounting expertise to test the efficiency and effectiveness of asset control deployed for the purpose of expressing an opinion on certain data”. For ^{Franco and Marra (2001)} auditing includes:

“...examination of documents, books and records, inspections and obtaining information and confirmations, internal and external, related to the control of assets, in order to measure the accuracy of these records and their financial statements resulting from them”.

Additionally, it is important to endorse how regulations of accounting occur, especially auditing, in Brazil and in the world. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is a body linked to the United Nations (UN), which has a group of experts in international accounting standards called the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR). According to Aggestam (1999), the ISAR is comprised of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and is the only UN intergovernmental body aimed at promoting the harmonization of accounting and auditing practices.

Although thoroughly defining the content that should be included in the curricula of the accounting professional training courses, the ISAR states that its determinations represent only a guide to be followed by the HEIs, which are responsible for establishing subjects to be taught and the workload of each, observing the peculiarities of each country, such as: the constant changes in the economic scenario, cultural differences, and technological advances.

However, some facts have led to more comprehensive regulatory changes in Auditing. According to Niyama et al. (2011) the professional responsibilities of auditors were expanded from corporate scandals, which led to modifications of the self-profession regulatory process in the US market, as well as the institution of the PCAOB.

Large audit firms argue that they support efforts to standardize the accounting and auditing standards worldwide and that a “new business model” should be developed for the provision of information with better quality and timeliness, but that auditors are not and cannot be the last instance of insurers for financial and capital markets, and that there is a difference in expectations between what investors want from an audit and the audit carrying capacity.

Finally, as the analysis of PWC; KPMG; GT; BDO; DT; E & Y (2006), it would be important to search for a convergence/harmonization of auditing standards, as it is being implemented in relation to international accounting standards. In this sense, the way would be through the International Standards of Auditing (ISAs) developed by IFAC.

Particularly in Brazil, in late 2009, the Federal Accounting Council (CFC) approved a package with the new auditing standards for the audit of financial statements in convergence with the parameters of the standards developed by the IFAC, placing the Brazilian market in line with this harmonization movement of audit practices.

In this sense, auditors in the sample of this work have been working on converging parameters for other countries that follow the International Standards of Auditing (ISAs) developed by IFAC, which allows a possible comparison with less distortion.

Analysis of association between variables

The study aimed to verify the association between the variables that characterize the existence of glass ceiling in the accounting profession. For this, the chi-square test on gender versus position was carried out as shown Table 3.

The facts show that on elite positions in the accounting profession, such as the Accounting Auditor, the expected count for males was of 1,675.7, whereas the actual count was of 2,346; on the other hand, for females the expected count was of 2,160.30 and the effective count was of 1,490.

Regarding the position of accounting assistant, there is a high prevalence of women, corroborating ^{Cooper (2001)} on the advancement of women in the accounting profession, particularly at low levels. The advance shows that the movements of radical feminism that occurred in the mid-1960s, mainly in the UK and Australia, were not in vain; however, the evidence still denotes inequality in the upper levels of the hierarchy in the accounting profession. The results indicate that the rejection of female accession to the post of accounting auditor persists, reinforcing the findings of ^{Gould (1983)}, ^{Fisher (1987)}, and ^{Cooper (2010)}.

In this view, women are occupying operational positions that do not require criticality in decisions. This inference seems to suggest that the assumption that women would not have the same capacity as men in the accounting profession continue to this day, as suggested by ^{Cooper (2010)}. It is also corroborated by the findings of ^{Dwyer and Roberts (2004)} and ^{Madero Gómez (2010)} that domesticity prevents equal participation of women in the accounting profession and business environment. This fact confirms that gender inequality is not isolated in the accounting profession, but is widespread throughout the business environment (^{Madero Gómez, 2010}).

The results suggest that in the accounting profession, the glass ceiling effect is disseminated on the issue of hierarchy in certain positions of accounting, corroborating the theoretical positioning of ^{Frankforter (1996)}, and in relation to the occupations of women in the accounting profession, confirming the positioning of ^{Fernandez (1998)}. The results corroborate the findings of ^{Morrison and Glinow (1990)} on the existence of glass ceiling that prevents women from taking leadership positions and visibility, namely those of Accounting Auditor and Accountant. Therefore, women tend to assume positions of lower visibility, as Accounting Assistant, indicating the occurrence of glass ceiling in the accounting profession in Southern Brazil. The position of Accounting Assistant does not have supervisory functions and authority, confirming the explanations of ^{Marsden, Kalleberg and Cook (1993)} that men take on more positions of authority and of supervision functions. The findings allow us to infer that men sometimes do not share the functions of power and professional status, maintaining the permeability of glass ceiling in the accounting profession (^{Steil, 1997}).

The results corroborate the concept of ^{Pillsbury et al., (1989)}, that female accountants suffer a lack of growth in the profession, and that of ^{Trapp, Hermanson and Turner (1989)} on the highest ascension of male accounting professionals. Evidence indicates that the accounting profession has an invisible barrier to women concerning jobs and occupations that offer a higher income. This barrier affects women due to gender, not by the inability to occupy the Accountant and Accounting Auditor positions, since training in Accounting accredits professionals for the exercise of all these functions (^{Powell and Butterfield, 1994}; ^{Ohlott et al., 1994}).

According to ^{Lehman (1992)}, the restriction practices of women to certain positions endured World War II (^{Zimmeck, 1984}), and the results indicate that to this day such discrimination continues.

Table 4 describes the chi-square test on Gender versus Education.

The results indicate that for College degree there is a close consistency between male and female. The same applies at the Doctorate level, because there is a similarity in the relation to gender; however, there was a predominance of women. The most relevant difference was in relation at the Master degree level, where males exceeded the expected count and the number of females was inferior in this count.

Generally, there is a higher ratio of women seeking professional qualification and even so they still occupy a smaller number of higher hierarchies in the accounting profession. This is contrary to the findings of ^{Roberts and Coutts (1992)}, who say that women who reach adequate levels of qualifications tend to achieve higher levels of employment in the profession, and to ^{Runyan et al. (2006)}, who mentions that education decreases gender inequality significantly in the business environment.

On the other hand, the findings corroborate ^{Crompton and Sanderson (1990)}, who say that the increase in the academic qualification level of women does not guarantee occupying high level positions in the hierarchy of the accounting profession. The results prove the inference of ^{Brighenti et al., (2015)}, in which the level of education could justify gender inequality in the accounting profession; however, this is not what happens, because women with education levels compatible with men are discriminated in their functions.

Evidence of ^{Casa Nova (2012)} on the spread of higher education and highly qualified women in a widespread scope are confirmed, and over time this factor may help the gender equality that is sorely required by both women and minorities.

Table 5 describes the chi-square test on Gender versus Age.

The fact that younger women predominate in the accounting profession offers support to the findings of ^{Crompton and Sanderson (1990)}, where the age distribution of younger women in the profession may cause implications in position and occupation, and women are represented in greater numbers at the lower levels of the accounting profession hierarchy.

Moreover, the evidence of ^{Konstanz and Ferris (1981)} is confirmed, in which women over time have greater organizational and staff turnover rates, making older men have higher growth in the professional level.

The approach by ^{Roberts and Coutts (1992)} is confirmed, since the career breaks of women aged 25 to 35 are affected over the perspectives for career advancement. Finally, the findings contradict the inferences of ^{Barcelona et al. (1975)} and of ^{Cisneros (2015)}, which state that the age of women would not be a factor for discrimination; however, the inferred results were in many different periods.

We must consider that the findings on the age group may offer evidence of possible impacts on other results, since women have recently gained ground in the profession and consequently younger women are prevalent in the profession, and that such professionals need time to achieve the best career levels. Thus, future studies would be necessary for a longitudinal way to compare whether or not this attitude tends to endure, and if there are continuing invisible barriers on remuneration, or office, among other discriminatory factors arising from gender.

Table 6 shows the chi-square test on Gender versus Remuneration.

The results indicate that in the accounting profession, men predominantly receive higher remunerations (R$ 5,000.00 to R$ 8,000.00 and > R$ 8,000.00), whereas lower salaries (< R$ 2,000.00 and R$ 2,000, 00 R$ 5,000.00) predominate among women.

The findings agree with ^{Steil (1997)}, ^{Bach (2014)} and ^{Brighenti et al. (2015)}, demonstrating lower pays for women who exercise the same professional assignments as men. The gender gap in pay remains significant, although women have obtained a similar education. The evidence of ^{Martin (1990)}, ^{Richardson (1996)} and Crankshaft and Bridges (2007), along with the theoretical positioning glass ceiling outlined by ^{Duleep and Sanders (1992)} with respect to the wage differences between men and women, are confirmed. Table 7 describes the chi-square test on Gender versus Company size.

It can be observed in Table 7 that there is a male predominance in undertaking activities involving the accounting profession in large companies because, as noted, the expected count for men was lower than the actual number. There is a predominance of women taking positions in the accounting profession in small and medium-sized enterprises, since, as noted, the expected count for women was lower than the actual number, contradicting ^{Brighenti et al. (2015)} who states that the size of a company does not cause interference in gender inequality. Table 8 describes the chi-square test on Gender versus Time in position.

The results show that men in the accounting profession remain in office for longer periods of time, that is, for over five years. On the other hand, women predominate in their in all other periods of less than five years. These results indicate that men tend to stay longer in their position in the accounting profession, which can be driven by the non- interference of caring for a family. On the other hand, women often have to give up their profession for a period of time to take care of their family, confirming the affirmations of ^{Richardson (1996)}.

These findings are corroborated by ^{Cooper Jackson (2001)}. According to these findings, women who have high positions are characterized by having a late marriage and few children. For ^{Melamed (1995)}, the accomplishments of women were obtained mainly due to lack of domestic responsibilities. In contrast, the evidence provided by ^{Brighenti et al. (2015)} on the low interference of employment time in gender inequality is contradicted. Table 9 describes the chi-square test on Gender versus the State.

The results indicate that women predominate in the accounting profession with a greater ratio in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, whereas men have a higher prevalence in Paraná.

Analysis of homogeneity among variables

Subsequently, the application of the correspondence analysis (HOMALS) was carried out, showing the total variance explained by each dimension. Thus, it was observed that the two dimensions explain 30.4% and 16.6% of the data variation, respectively. Table 10 shows the discrimination measures informing on the most important variables in each dimension.

The result is consistent with the glass ceiling approach in which the variables of gender, position, compensation, company size, and time in the position are factors that can determine barriers that prevent women from joining the most prestigious careers and achieve remuneration consistent with that of men. The graphical representation of the discrimination measures is shown in Figure 1, as follows.

Figure 1 Discrimination measures using 2013 base year data. 

From figure 1, it can be inferred that the main variables that discriminate the studied group are position, time in position, company size, gender, age, and remuneration. Finally, the correspondence relationships among variable categories are presented, and Figure 2 shows the correspondence distribution of the research categories.

Figure 2 Correspondence distribution of the categories using 2013 base year data. 

The results indicate that the female accounting professional is closer to small and medium-sized businesses, a shorter time in the company (1 to 3 years), age between 26 and 30 years, in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, the position of Accounting Assistant, and are paid less than R$ 2,000.00 per month. However, the male accounting professional is closer to a higher salary (over R$ 8,000.00), a position of Accounting Auditor, a 50-year-old age, and a long experience in the position (over five years). The above evidence confirms the findings in the chi-square test.