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Gender barriers inhibiting entrance into the field of accounting have fallen and bright young women are being attracted to the profession in increasing numbers. In fact, the USA's accounting progammes currently contain more female students than male[1]. Accounting certainly can no longer be characterized as a man's profession.
Women, however, have not climbed the occupational ladder to high-level accounting positions with the apparent ease of their male brethren. Lehman reports that "by the 1980s, women represented between 35 per cent and 50 per cent of all new employees in public accounting, but promotions, training, responsibilities, influence and wages were allocated disproportionately between women and men and very few women held the position of partner" [2, P. 150]. Based on a nationwide survey of partners admitted during 1988 to partnership in the "Big Six", Bhamornsiri and Guinn[3] found that females are significantly less likely to achieve the position of partner. And, as reported by Berll, in investment banking, business law, and management consulting, the number of women partners remains surprisingly low; "among those with the worst record, however, are the 'Big Six' accounting firms. The problem remains that only 3.7 per cent of partners in big six accounting firms are women"[4].
Research on the scarcity of women in partnership positions tends to focus on personality characteristics and behaviour patterns of women as explanations for their lack of upward mobility. However, psychological research suggests that causal explanations for women's low job status can focus on either the person or the situation[5,6]. This article demonstrates that a situation-centred perspective can make a significant contribution to our understanding of why so few women accountants advance to partnership positions.
BACKGROUND PERSON-CENTERED EXPLANATIONS
Person-centred explanations for the absence of women in partnership positions suggest that female socialization practices encourage the development of personality traits and/or behaviour patterns which are contrary to the demands of the managerial role[7-9]. Among these traits are a fear of success and an unwillingness to take risks.
This type of explanation is exemplified in the theory proposed by Horner in 1969[9]. Put simply, she suggests that women have a fear of success because of the incompatibility between achievement and a sense of femininity. Horner's methodology caught readers' imaginations and helped to popularize her research. Her subjects were...