Gender Gap in Accounting and Finance Industry

This research proposal analyses the gender pay gap in the accounting and finance industry, evaluating changes in perceptions over time, negative impacts, steps taken to overcome gaps, and possible recommendations.

1
Title: Gender Gap in the Accounting and Finance Industry
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Word Count: 1250
Referencing: Harvard
Date: 09.10.2018

2
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................3
Research Objective.................................................................................................................3
Research Question..................................................................................................................4
Rationale for the Research.....................................................................................................4
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................5
Methodology and Conceptual Framework.................................................................................6
Research Design.....................................................................................................................6
Study Area and Participants...................................................................................................6
Method...................................................................................................................................6
Data Collection.......................................................................................................................7
Data Analysis.........................................................................................................................7
Limitations of the Study.............................................................................................................7
Anticipated outcome..................................................................................................................8
Timeline.....................................................................................................................................8
Reference....................................................................................................................................9

3
Introduction
Gender pay gap refers to the distinction between male and female employees on the basis of
their wages. The remuneration which the women are paid for the number of hours they work
at an organisation might be different from that of the men working in the same sector or
organisation. Such differences in the society often leads to demotivational aspects associated
with the workforce. The women till date are being exploited and they are getting less pay
than the men (Leslie, Manchester and Dahm, 2017). The pay gap may be adjusted or
unadjusted but it persists in most of the sectors. In this research proposal the gender pay gap
in the accounting and the finance industry is analysed.
Research Aim
The main aim of the research would be to analyse the gap among that persists in the ages
among men and women. The research paper would analyse the changes that has been
occurred over the years in the accounting and financial firms. Such prospects of the analysis
wold help in evaluating the changes in human perceptions with time.
Research Objective
Based upon the research aim, following research objectives could be taken into consideration:
 To analyse the persistence of wage gap among the accounting and financial firms in
21st century
 To focus on the change in pattern of the wage gap in the industry throughout the years
 To evaluate the negative aspects associated with such gaps
 To analyse the steps that are undertaken by firms and the society to overcome such
gaps

4
Research Question
Based upon the aim and objectives of the research paper, the primary research question that is
associated, could be stated as:
Is there prevalence of gender pay gap in the accounting and finance companies of 21st
century?
In association with the primary questions, the secondary questions could be as follows:
 Is the gender pay gap in the companies decreasing with time?
 What are the negative impact of such pay gaps on the performance of the workforce?
 What has the firms and society done for overcoming such gaps?
 What are the possible recommendations to remove the gender wage gap from the
industry?
Rationale for the Research
The workforce associated with the accounting and finance industry would be quite beneficial
from this research. This research would help in portraying the wage differences that persists
in the society and the change in perceptions over the time. This research would empower the
prospect of equality of the workforce in the 21st century. Policies and strategies that are
associated to eradicate such social negatives would be evaluated that are helping the society
to overcome such issues. The employers can give away their prejudice and judgements while
they are recruiting employees of different genders.
Literature Review
According to Mandel and Semyonov (2014), gender pay gap exists in most of the industries
and both the sectors. It is more intense in the private sector than the public sector which is

5
protected by many anti-gender discrimination laws. However the socio-demographic
attributes impact this gender gap across the employment sector. Chi and Li (2014), stated
that in the accounting sector, the work culture should be such that all genders can work
together equally under equal opportunities. The minority genders need to be included in the
work structure of the organisation. When it comes to consideration of the binary genders, the
women should also get the same employment opportunities as men. A survey had been
conducted for finding the gender pay or wage gap between the men and the women in the
accounting and financial sector (Cardoso, Guimarães and Portugal, 2016). In this survey the
findings suggest that the gender pay gap of almost 21.5 per cent exists in the accounting
industry. The basic problem of the gender gap is not the gender biasedness in the
remuneration but the gender stereotyping while recruitment. The women are recruited as the
secretaries at different accounting firms while for marketing and finance the men are being
employed. Due to this difference in job positions the gender pay also shows huge gap. The
women are hardly seen at the higher level of the job or in the board of director for most of the
financial firms.
According to the viewpoint of Bishu and Alkadry (2017), the fact that the employers or
recruiters of jobs often have a prejudice regarding women that they are not comfortable with
flexible or often changing work timings. Kelsey (2015) says that the major reasons behind the
gender pay gap are difference in job opportunities, absence or low representation of women
at the highest level of management or as senior stakeholders, work culture and attitude of
colleagues toward women, notion or prejudice among recruiters while hiring or announcing
promotions, etc. The difference in pay between men and women exist in different nations
across the world. The average ratio of the wages of females to that of males still exhibits
gender pay gap. The women in many developing countries are missing from leadership

6
positions which is also another factor which is leading to such difference and non-uniformity
in the pay structures within the various sectors or industries.
Methodology and Conceptual Framework
Research Design
Keeping in mind the aim of the research which is to find out whether there exists gender pay
gap in the accounting and finance industry, the main research design will be based on
qualitative as well as quantitative study. In case of quantitative study Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) software would be used to analyse the numerical facts and figures
based upon the answers that would be derived from closed ended questions provided to
randomly selected workers of the accounting and financial firms. The qualitative analysis
would be conducted to associate the results of the interviews with the theoretical concepts.
Study Area and Participants
From a total of 5 finance and accounting companies, 30 women and 20 men are interviewed.
The women are interviewed to get a clear idea about the gender pay gap in the accounting
sector which they have faced themselves while working or while being hired for some firm.
The men on the other hand are also interviewed to get knowledge about the other side of the
coin. The views of male employees are effective in making a comparative study.
Method
The 50 employees all employed in the finance and accounting sector is interviewed. The
interview method is used for getting good and detailed information. The questionnaire for the
interview is designed in such a way that the relevant findings are received at the end of the
interview through the usage of Likert Scale.

7
Data Collection
The primary data for the research would be collected through the survey questionnaires that
would be asked to the employees of the firms. Such answers would be analysed for drawing
conclusions and providing valuable answers to the research questions. Secondary data would
be collected from peer reviewed journals, books and articles associated with the gender wage
gap, that would focus on the changes in the trends of the gap over the years and associate
valuable reasons to it.
Data Analysis
Through the statistical package for social science (SPSS), the data analysis is conducted for
quantitative analysis. Furthermore, the data collected in the form of answers to the
questionnaire, will help to make an inference about the research. The descriptive analysis is
made at the end of the process that would utilise the secondary data in order to justify the
responses of the primary data. Moreover, the research aim and objectives of the paper would
be answered accordingly.
Limitations of the Study
The major drawback of the research is that the sample size may not be a good and appropriate
representation of the population. Moreover, the accounting and finance based firms from
where these 50 employees belong may not give a correct idea of the entire industry. Thus the
sample selection might be a very important problem while drawing the conclusions for the
research.
Anticipated outcome
The outcome which is anticipated is that the findings will show the existence of gender gap
within the accounting and finance industry. The reasons could be lack of adequate

8
representation of women in the work force at senior job positions. Gender stereotyping in
jobs is another reason of such gender wage gap (Desai, et.al, 2016). The difference in the
attitude of male employers towards female employees is another major issue creating this pay
inequality.
Timeline
For any research, there needs to be ample time allocated for conducting the complete research
work. The table below is a draft for the research timeline. The time plan would focus on the
successful completion of the research paper as per the stated task names within the provided
deadline.
Table 1: Gantt Chart

9
Reference
Bishu, S.G. and Alkadry, M.G., 2017. A systematic review of the gender pay gap and factors
that predict it. Administration & Society. 49(1), pp.65-104.
Cardoso, A.R., Guimarães, P. and Portugal, P., 2016. What drives the gender wage gap? A
look at the role of firm and job-title heterogeneity. Oxford Economic Papers. 68(2), pp.506-
524.
Chi, W. and Li, B., 2014. Trends in China’s gender employment and pay gap: Estimating
gender pay gaps with employment selection. Journal of Comparative Economics. 42(3),
pp.708-725.
Desai, T., Ali, S., Fang, X., Thompson, W., Jawa, P. and Vachharajani, T., 2016. Equal work
for unequal pay: the gender reimbursement gap for healthcare providers in the United
States. Academy of Medical Journal. 60(2), pp.402-432.
Kelsey, C.L., 2015. Gender inequality: Empowering women. Journal of Legal Issues and
Cases in Business. 3, p.1.
Leslie, L.M., Manchester, C.F. and Dahm, P.C., 2017. Why and when does the gender gap
reverse? Diversity goals and the pay premium for high potential women. Academy of
Management Journal. 60(2), pp.402-432.
Mandel, H. and Semyonov, M., 2014. Gender pay gap and employment sector: Sources of
earnings disparities in the United States, 1970–2010. Demography. 51(5), pp.1597-1618.