About 45% of women CAs want to quit

• Published: June 07
• Author: Futhi Ntshingila

FEMALE chartered accountants may be in demand in South Africa, but many already in the field say they want out.  A study conducted by research company Landelahni Business Leaders found that a number of women chartered accountants felt the industry had not transformed and was still dominated by chauvinist males.

Landelahni CEO Sandra Burmeister said the survey looked at attitudes, perceptions, compensation and overall satisfaction of South African women in the financial services industry. She said the study found that female accountants across races felt they had to work harder than their male counterparts to gain equal recognition.  “What we saw was a trend in recruitment [of women] entering the financial services sector and leaving it again,” said Burmeister. “We wanted to get the sense of what are the reasons behind people leaving.

A lot of women were saying they would rather go to a different industry.” Most young women professionals in financial services believe that conditions within the sector have not improved in recent years, and about 45% plan to leave within five years. More than 60% of women across age and race indicated they seldom felt part of a team and they always felt isolated. More than 70% of women over 30 said they had to adopt a more male-oriented approach in order to be heard and to survive. Almost all women under 30 believe less time and attention are devoted to their training and development compared with that of men. The vast majority said that at some point in their careers they had been relegated to administrative roles, irrespective of their experience and education. They felt that to fight against the status quo would lead to their being sidelined. One woman said she was told that as long as she did not “act up” her career was secure.

“During my annual review, I was told by my supervisor that I was a rising star, not like the other blacks, and would do well in the company as long as I did not fall pregnant or start acting up like some of the others,” she said. Another, who is a senior-level manager, said the top executive structure in her bank was predominantly male and Afrikaans.  “Whenever we try and incorporate organisational change, they start to hunker. I mean you literally see top management corralling the forces. There is definitely a backlash against the strides that women are making. No one has stopped to analyse the value we add or the contribution we are making to the bottom line,” she said.  The study also found that whisky and golf were the quickest ways to climb the financial corporate ladder, as one junior risk manager observed.

“I hate them both actually and have no plans to take them up. If my success in this firm depends on it, then I’m dead. I do work hard and try to learn as much as possible, but I’m not going to sell out or become someone else for my job. On weekends I go out with my friends and shop. I’m also not ashamed to say I’m a soccer fan. I guess that makes me unfit for promotion,” she said. A mid-level consultant in a financial services regulatory entity said: “You must be in the inner circle of the CEO to really make it in this industry. The cronies still rule regardless of their worth (perhaps it’s the same for all professions).” The study interviewed 50 women in the industry. The group surveyed suggested that in order to improve the situation, financial services firms should acknowledge that people other than white males could add value to the industry. The group also wanted proper training and support. They rated mentoring among the top practices that would help firms attract and retain women.

Nazrien Kader, the new president of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants KwaZulu-Natal, was firm about women needing to rise above male chauvinism. “If women choose to make gender an issue it will become one. They have to find the common ground and stop making male chauvinism and lack of transformation in the industry an obstacle to them climbing the ladder,” she said.  “The problem with our female CAs is we give up too easy. Breaking through the traditions and male chauvinism will only become an insurmountable task if we allow it to. The perception out there is that we [female accountants] can’t get ahead. It’s a misconception because we don’t persevere.”  She conceded that transformation was slow, but said it was a gradual process.

“Yes, it hasn’t been adequately transformed, but we must realise that there’s recklessness out there about transformation. Rearing CAs is time-consuming and there must be an understanding from both companies and the students that it takes up time, up to 10 years to get skilled, qualified CAs with whom everyone is happy.”  According to the institute, there are about 25000 chartered accountants in South Africa, of whom about only 600 are black. The number of women chartered accountants was not available.

Additional reporting by Sharda Naidoo.

Members views in response to article:

I think the sub-headline depends on who you are talking with. I find it hard to believe that African CA’s want to quit, in fact I have not met any of my friends or acquaintances that have expressed that desire. All of us are dealing with certain challenges in our work areas but that does not mean we are quitters. About us giving up too easy, I also can’t find any support for this. I think African CA’s are actually the movers and the shakers.

What I think we could be accused of (even though to me it is not necessarily wrong) is that even though we are hard workers, we are still family oriented and thus we are constantly balancing our working and family lives. We certainly do not expect things to fall on our laps (I know I do not) and we work very hard. I actually took a very strong exception to this article.

In my view, the problem is not only experienced by women CA’s, but many professional women in the financial services industry actually experience similar attitudes from their male counterparts. In many cases women eventually quit because the pressure just becomes unbearable. There is no stronger and tighter boys club than that found in the financial services industry and to make it there you have to become one of them.

I don’t believe that one should compromise one’s values and ‘self’ in the pursuit of career success? Yes. the article does deal with the unfairness and brutality of the working environment but what gets to me is the fact that what seems to stand out is that ‘Women give up too easily’ - which is not the case. 

The statement made “Women give up too easily” is very irresponsible and a ‘slur’ against women in general. The fact that women are able to function successfully under merciless and vicious circumstances bears testimony to their strength and resilient characters. A number of us women who find ourselves in these environments continue in the struggle to try and break down these unnecessary barriers. And if it means we have to put in more effort than our male counterparts, we will continue to do so, if only to ensure that the women coming after us will not have to fight these unnecessary battles and will compete on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

The fact that some women CA’s change jobs cannot be attributed to them ‘wanting to give up’ but rather to the fact that they are moving to opportunities where they can realize their full potential. 

Gender and race issues will persist for some time and are not specific to the financial services industry but across the board within the South African context. We need to be cognizant of the incremental steps that have been taken by our government and the people of the country towards addressing these issues. The people of South Africa are becoming more tolerant of each other – but we now need to embrace and leverage on our differences.

I’m not about to quit but I am truly stressing.  I am a newly qualified CA, with two years post articles experience.  In just two years I have changed jobs twice.  With 8 months in each position, Whether or not this is going to continue as a trend I do not know.  But one thing I know is that I am intelligent and have really worked hard to get this qualification, therefore I will not throw it away just because the system, does not allow me to grow.  The problem is not that female CA’s give up too easily.

The problem is that the system that expects you to take anything it gives you and be grateful simple because you have a job, and finds it difficult to accept that women challenge the system and want to be given more responsibility to match their qualifications and abilities.  Hence you will hear comments that woman give up easily.  My employer in an exit interview just this morning told me there is no reason why I should take 50 steps to get to where I want to get to but I should rather wait until the right opportunity comes.

Whether or not that takes 50 years does not matter, but at this stage I must just preserve.  I can assure you two months after I joined this organisation I shouted for more responsibility and challenge and 6 months down the line I still have not seen any change.  When I look at my colleagues, non of whom are CA’s, my assessment is that this position does not really need that qualification.  My colleagues have matric and just a B comm. degree and they are copping just fine.  But to get their numbers right they had to get a black female CA.  Whether or not they have challenge for them does not matter. Same as the previous employer where I spent 8 months as well.

Obviously with the kind of training that I have gone through I struggle with being given no responsibility or challenge.  I have tried to look for ways to create that challenge acknowledging that the problem can’t always be the system, with failure I have not sought any other way to resolve this issue but to leave and look for more opportunity.  And when I decide to do that I get comments like I quit too easily.  The thing is difficult people are everywhere one will never do away with that.  But the most important thing for me at this stage is I do not want to look back five years from now and find out I have not done anything to develop and attain more skill and qualification.  I hate job hoping, I know it looks bad on my CV.  But what should I do, look for a better opportunity or come to work for 5 years and drink coffee every 10 minutes and then go home having not grown at all.  I’d rather keep looking because I do believe that there are good employers out there that really want to employ you for your skill and utilise it.

It may take three jobs to find them but at the end I do believe that it will be worth it. As I said earlier I am not about to quit, I just want to position my self to good opportunities as they come.  I do not want the system to define my destiny but I realise that my destiny is in my hands.  If I make a complete mess at least I will have no one to blame but my self.

I read the article and I thought surely 50 cannot possibly be an adequate sample to base an opinion on. It also does not do much to convince the market that we are a rare breed and should be preserved!!

It is hard enough being a non-white female in this industry, without our fellow non-white female CA’s making comments that I feel perpetuates/justifies the resistance that women in the financial industry encounter.

I also read the article on Sunday with keen interest and concern. My personal view is that, while the article covered frustrations from women CA’s in general, there is an added frustration with particularly African CA’s with regards to language. African Women CA’s already feel alienated from their colleagues for reasons some of which are eloquently stated in the article. Added to these, is a seeming insensitivity amongst Afrikaans- speaking colleagues, who see nothing wrong (generally) in starting or changing a conversation to Afrikaans, in the presence of those who don’t speak the language. This results in further alienation.

Applying to women CA’s in general, the inflexibility of employers when it comes to the needs of women (mothers/ wives), is in my view another reason for such a high percentage considering to quit- allowing flexi time and working from home (and SUPPORTING it) from an employers’ perspective, would also go a long way in retaining women in the profession. In many cases, I believe, women CA’s find themselves having to sacrifice their families for work, and there comes a point where one evaluates whether this sacrifice is worth while. Important to note that I’m not suggesting that women CA’s need special treatment from the rest of career women, but with the very nature of work that CA’s find themselves doing- long hours, etc- a little flexibility, and trust that just because the person is not physically at her desk, doesn’t mean that the work isn’t getting done, will solve part of this problem. We are after all professionals and grown ups, and should be trusted about issues such as these.

I would agree with the article that the financial services industry is white and male. However I am in the telecommunications industry and it does not look any better than the financial services industry. I do not agree that women give up too easily – if that were the case then none of us would have achieved and worked against the odds to become CA’s.

The issues that I would like to highlight:
Appointments are certainly based on those that are in the inner circle of the CEO - but you can argue that is because of research and background of the candidate is considered. Women in executive positions are not only faced with company work but juggle other responsibilities like being a mother and a wife. We have to face facts we don’t have the number of hours that our male colleagues have to spend on the golf course, etc… We have other priorities – and this is our responsibility as women to ensure that we are directly

involved in the upbringing of our children otherwise the future of the whole of South Africa is at risk!

It is indeed interesting that the article refers to “...many already in the field want out”  (my underlining). Based on the article the survey was based on 50 women who are in the financial services sector.  There are approximately, 5487 ( obtained from SAICA website) female CA’s in the country. A survey based on 50 female CA which are from one sector of the economy cannot be a fair representation of the experiences, views and opinion of women CA. Statistically, the survey does not have credibility especially given such strong general conclusions have been drawn based on it.  The participants in the survey represent just short of 1% women CA in country.  The question of credibility also arises as far as it relates to the inability of the researchers to obtain relevant statistics about the number of women CA. Such information is available to the public on the SAICA website.

Given the above, it sends a negative impression of the experiences of women CA in corporate South Africa in general.  This however, does not mean that the challenges highlighted by the quoted participants do not prevail in industry. In the spirit of trying to attract women into the profession I believe that yes the truth be told about one’s experience but one also need to tell a balanced view of people’s experiences. There are a number of female CA across various industries who have done exceptionally well and have great experiences that are encouraging. That information also need to get out.

It is my view that women will have it harder than men simply because they have been around for a longer period and have therefore defined most of the rules that we need to follow when it comes to business. We are in the process of redefining business and how we deal with business in general. This process will take time and I think that women in general will take their place as equals to men. We may be different but we are equal. As more women enter into the business world we will redefine how business is done and soon it will no longer be over whiskey and golf, but rather at the mall and in spa’s.

Time and patience is what we will need as well as a commitment from women that have gone before us and paved the way to ensure that transformation takes place. I think this generation of women will set the tone for the future and we need to be persistent and hardworking, without forsaking our responsibilities.