Pink accounting in Italy: cultural perspectives over discrimination and/or lack of interest

Abstract

Purpose\ud The issue of gender inequality in the Italian universities and academic context does not seem to be particularly debated and is really rare. Starting from this “lack of interest”, the paper aims to inquire into the “state-of-the-art” of existing inequality in the scientific and academic path of Italian female scholars and academia, answering the following research question: Is discrimination between women and men linked to the number of scientific contributions in periodicals and their presence within academic boards of scientific accounting associations and journals in Italy?\ud Design/methodology/approach\ud The methodology is primarily developed through a deductive analysis of the literature strands concerning gender accounting, accounting in academia and the role of women in universities and academia. Second, within the inductive perspective, the authors have chosen to inquire into the scientific publications of women on the oldest Italian journal in the accounting field – the Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale (RIREA). Subsequently, the position and career of women were analysed in academia investigating their presence and role within the boards of a sample of Italian journals and the main Italian accounting scientific associations\ud Findings\ud Accordingly, this paper concentrates on gender inequalities in university and academia in Italy and on eventual obstacles that get in the way of the existence of scientific contributions in journals and of career progress of those women who carry on scholarly work in accounting.\ud Research limitations/implications\ud The analysis confirms the need to open more space for women at the summits of political, economic and cultural institutions, including accounting academia and scientific journals. The paper has some limitations concerning the consideration of only Italian journals and academic associations. Then, we will develop the analysis in comparative terms, as attention will be addressed on the participation in scientific committees and boards of some of the major international scientific associations of accounting. Moreover, we will consider the narrative approach describing the stories of Italian women and accounting scholars to carefully investigate the reasons for this persistent discrimination.\ud Originality/value\ud The innovative contribution of the paper is due to the fact that the authors are unaware of previous studies aimed at investigating if female accounting scholars are under-represented compared to their male colleagues within the top positions of the most prestigious Italian accounting associations and scientific journals. Previous research also did not investigate the existence of correlation between Italian women’s scientific productivity, their under-representation within academia and scientific career

A review of accounting research in Australasia

“…For institution‐related research, Baldarelli et al . () examined gender equality in Italian universities and academic contexts.…”

Women’s skills and career advancement: a review of gender (in)equality in an accounting workplace

“…Academia transforms the organizational, social, political, and psychological aspects. Many studies have identified gender inequality at universities (Baldarelli, Baldo, & Vignini, 2016;De Paola & Scoppa, 2015;Galizzi & Siboni, 2016). The lower promotion rate of women to full accounting professor at university is one reason that women are unwilling to choose academia (Gago & Mac ıas, 2014).…”

“…The lower promotion rate of women to full accounting professor at university is one reason that women are unwilling to choose academia (Gago & Mac ıas, 2014). Women's career progress in academia in Italy is also hindered, so women's contributions to gender discourse on accounting was found to be less than that of men (Baldarelli et al, 2016).…”

Women’s Role in the Accounting Profession: A Comparative Study between Italy and Romania

“…Several studies and contributions attested to the gendered nature of accounting organisations (Hines 1992;Loft 1992;Lehman 1992;Kirkham and Loft 1993;Fogarty et al 1998;Grey 1998;Napier 2001;Dambrin and Lambert 2006;Roberts 2013). Using these studies as a benchmark and starting point, other contributions began to emerge in the literature, mostly empirical studies of gender in accounting organisations and academia (Anderson-Gough et al 2002;Dambrin and Lambert 2006Lupu 2010;Kornberger et al 2010;Broadbent 1998Broadbent , 2016Komori 2007;Virtanen 2009;Samkin and Schneider 2014;Baldarelli et al 2016).…”