Regnskap Norge on equality in the accounting industry
– At the same time, the survey reveals a slight decrease from last year, as a result of men being overrepresented among the wage earners who have the highest salaries. At the same time, it is still the case that the majority of top managers in accountancy firms are men, despite the fact that overall there are more women than men working in the industry.
At middle management level, however, there is full equality. It is also good to note that in an important area such as pay, there is almost complete equality between the sexes in the accountancy industry. At the same time, there are some developments that we must be aware of, not least the under-representation of women who are senior managers.
As the industry organization for the country’s accounting firms, Regnskap Norge conducts a number of surveys annually. One of them relates to pay and equality.
– The figures have this year confirmed the picture we have seen over several years, but with a negative tendency that we must keep an eye on. One of the most important, which we are proud to be able to state, is that this is an industry with close to real equal pay. Women’s wages make up 96% of men’s wages, says Rune Aale-Hansen, CEO.
In Accounting Norway:
– What gives a slight negative blow this year is that men are significantly overrepresented among wage earners with the highest salaries. This is linked to the still skewed gender balance in leading positions. The starting point is that there are more women than men working in this industry. Nevertheless, there is a majority of men in leading positions both as general manager and chairman of the board.
Glass ceiling or reluctance?
– Both in terms of equality, diversity and representativeness, it would be natural to see more gender balance also in reclining positions. If we were to use representativeness as a basis, there should actually be more female top managers than men in leading positions, says the director of Accounting Norway: – We have not identified the reason why the figures are as they are, but we will consider going more in-depth for to uncover the connection. Is this because women do not think they are competent? Is this because male chairmen hire male managers – that the glass ceiling still applies? Or is this simply due to women not wanting to? And why are more women working part-time?
– The accounting industry is a growing industry. It is also an industry characterized by both sustainability and technological development – which is important for many new employees. Then it is also important to show that the industry is also modern and up-to-date and offers equally good career opportunities regardless of gender, concludes Aale-Hansen
Facts:
The survey sends out annually to Regnskap Norges approx. 8,000 authorized individual members. About. 2,500 have responded. Our membership currently consists of 68 per cent women and 32 per cent men. Of those who responded to the survey, 67 percent were women and 33 percent were men. It contains a composition that is representative of the entire membership, which in turn is a mirror image of the accounting industry.
Proportion of women vs. men with personal responsibility
A total of 30 percent of all respondents state and have personal responsibility for one or more employees. Of these, 58 percent are women and 42 percent are men.
Proportion of women vs. men who are senior managers
A total of 18 per cent of all respondents state that they are a top manager/top manager in an accounting firm. Of these, 48 percent are women and 52 percent are men.
Proportion of women vs. men who work part-time
Total 9 percent of all respondents state that they work part-time. Of these, 84 percent are women and 16 percent are men.