Preferences, constraints and work‐lifestyle choices

Abstract

Purpose -Men and women are now being admitted to membership of the major UK professional accountancy bodies in approximately equal numbers. This trend has focused attention on the ways in which professional accountants combine careers and family life, particularly when women have children. Recognising the limitations inherent in the widely-used term "work-life balance" that polarises life and work, this paper instead seeks to consider the "work-lifestyle choices" made by female accountants. Work-lifestyle choices refer to the ways in which people place different emphases on the work and private spheres, according to their individual circumstances. Feminist researchers have argued that women's work-lifestyle choices have been limited by structural constraints. Over the past decade, a newer argument, preference theory, has emerged, suggesting that women's choices owe less to inequalities in the workplace and more to the preferences of individuals, particularly, but not exclusively, women. The purpose of this paper is to explore the work-lifestyle choices made by female members of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), in terms of both structural constraints and preferences, in order to present a more holistic understanding of the work-lifestyle choices made by this particular group of well-educated, middle-class women. Design/methodology/approach -The paper combines feminist theory and preference theory in the context of the results of a questionnaire survey of female members of ICAS and 14 interviews with female members of ICAS. Findings -The responses of these accountants suggest that, while structural constraints are evident, many work-lifestyle choices were driven by a desire to spend more time with children, and by women's perceptions of their mothering role. Most women, while recognising the opportunities forgone, were nonetheless happy with the choices that they had made. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the literature by examining the voices of female accountants in order to explore how perceived gender roles impact on career decisions and work-lifestyle choices.

The Accounting Profession and the Female Gender in Ghana

“…Gallhofer, et al (2011) observed that, women who worked part-time or had other flexible working arrangement appeared to have made their work-lifestyle choices given preferences for combing motherhood and employment. Structural constraints impacting upon their work-lifestyle choices were experienced by several women who would have preferred to work part-time but could not do so because their employer did not offer this option.…”

“…For example, Gallhofer, et al (2011) found that where they can female ICAS members often prefer to work part-time rather than full-time in order to combine work and home lifestyles effectively.…”

A contabilidade, o acesso e o exercício da profissão de contabilista certificado/a na perspetiva das mulheres

“…Neste contexto, os estudos têm sugerido que as mulheres continuam a enfrentar discriminação em função do género (Haynes, 2008a(Haynes, , 2008bLyonette e Crompton, 2008), ou raça (McNicholas, Humphries e Gallhofer, 2004;Kamla, 2012), e que a opção pela maternidade e por dedicar mais tempo à família pode influenciar negativamente a sua progressão na carreira (Gallhofer et al, 2011;Dambrin e Lambert, 2012). Os estudos sugerem ainda que as práticas nas maiores empresas de auditoria reproduzem a dominação masculina (Kornberger, Carter e Ross-Smith, 2010), ou que o género é uma variável importante na explicação das diferenças salariais existentes na profissão de contabilista (Lyonette e Crompton, 2008).…”

“…Nos últimos anos, a investigação tem abordado questões como o impacto dos papéis de género nas opções de carreira e nas escolhas de estilo de vida e trabalho das mulheres (Gallhofer et al, 2011;Lupu, 2012), da progressão das mulheres na carreira contabilística (Dambrin e Lambert, 2012), do impacto que a presença de mulheres nos níveis hierárquicos superiores de gestão tem nos resultados das empresas (Francoeur, Labelle e Sinclair-Desgagné, 2008), e do papel do género em relação à gestão estratégica e aos processos contabilísticos existentes nas organizações (Parker, 2008).…”

“…Assim, Sonja Gallhofer et al (2011) concluem que grande parte das organizações não adotou políticas e modelos de trabalho flexíveis, pelo que as escolhas de estilo de vida e trabalho feitas pelas mulheres foram guiadas pelas suas preferências individuais, nomeadamente pela vontade de serem mães e de terem mais tempo para a família. De notar ainda que, de acordo com Ioana Lupu (2012), tanto as restrições estruturais como as preferências individuais de cada mulher dificultam a sua progressão na carreira contribuindo desta forma para a escassez de mulheres nos cargos superiores da profissão contabilística.…”