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Women boosting in numbers through the accounting industry
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Thursday 6 March 2008 
 
Coinciding with International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) has released figures revealing that women are breaking down accounting industry stereotypes and embracing the profession. 
 
In Australia, over the past decade the number of women who have successfully become Chartered Accountants has more than doubled.  
 
Compared to their male counterparts, women around the country have boosted in numbers and become Chartered Accountants with the following increases evident from 1998 to now:

  • WA: increase of 152 per cent
  • Tas: increase of 144 per cent
  • SA: increase of 139 per cent
  • Qld: increase of 133 per cent
  • Vic: increase of 132 per cent
  • NSW: increase of 117 per cent
  • ACT: increase of 94 per cent (prior to 2001 ACT figures were included in NSW)
  • NT: increase of 66 per cent.
 
This trend is further reflected in the Institute’s current enrolment figures in the Chartered Accountants Program, the graduate diploma accountants take to become Chartered Accountants, which reveals a trend towards balanced gender ratio*.  
 
“A more balanced gender membership base is good news for the accounting industry as we move into the future. This is of particular importance and significance in the current skills shortage environment in which we operate,” said the Institute's Victoria/Tasmania General Manager, Michael Nazzari. 
 
According to the Department Education & Training, accounting will be one of the biggest sources of jobs 2005-2010. 
 
The skills shortage has been escalated by the unprecedented demand for resources from emerging global economies. 
 
“The skills shortage is showing no signs of disappearing in 2008 and with the demand for Chartered Accountants in our state and beyond remaining high, a career in accounting makes good business sense for both men and women,” he said.  
 
However while the accounting industry, and becoming a Chartered Accountant, certainly remains a popular choice amongst men, the number of males who have become Chartered Accountants over the last decade has not grown at the same rate as their female counterparts. 
 
To date the proportion of women who are Chartered Accountants stands at 30 per cent, while in 1998 it stood at only 19.7 per cent.