Industry News

Study Reveals Females Have More Room to Grow in Tax

, 03-09-2010

Charleston, S.C. — March 9

TaxDiversity released its "2010 Women in Tax" study, showing that the percentage of women advancing within the tax profession has increased dramatically since 2002, although the overall population of senior tax professionals remains primarily male.

While the overall representation of women in the tax profession has increased, not enough is being done to improve the recruiting, training, mentoring and elevating of female tax professionals, especially in senior executive positions.

"I see a tremendous opportunity for organizations to attract and retain females in the tax profession," said Tony Santiago, founder of TaxDiversity, a philanthropic project of the TaxTalent network. "To achieve a more equal gender balance, organizations must address the concerns of female tax professionals, and women already working in the tax profession need to share their experiences and knowledge with the next generation."

Key findings of the "Women in Tax 2010" study include:

• A leveling off in the percentage of females entering the profession (33 percent in 2002 vs. 35 percent in 2009).

• A significant population of females attracted to sectors that offer them the greatest opportunity of having an acceptable work-life balance, as evidenced by the IRS statistics.

• The profession has made great strides in bringing more females into mid-management, with an increase of 15 percent during the past seven years, and senior executive positions, showing an increase of just less than 19 percent during the past seven years.

• There continues to be a significant disparity in the percentage of males versus females in the senior executive positions (19 percent females vs. 81 percent males).

"In our first study in 2002, I was pleased to see that the percentage of women in the tax profession had increased significantly. With our most recent analysis, progress has been made in women advancing to more senior positions; however, more remains to be done before the profession reaches a true equality," said Santiago.

The full "Women in Tax 2010" study can be downloaded from www.TaxDiversity.com.

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