This chapter presents a study that analyzes the Portuguese certified accountant's perception on the difficulties that certified accountant (CA) women face in their professional life, more specifically regarding the work-family conflict. To achieve this goal, an empirical study was conducted by applying a questionnaire survey to Portuguese CAs. This study is structured in six sections. After this introduction, in section two is presented the literature review on the subject of this study. Section three is dedicated to the presentation of the methodology used to conduct the empirical study. Sections four and five present the analysis and interpretation of the data collected, as well as the discussion of the results obtained, respectively. In section six is presented the main conclusions and contributions of the study.
Top1. Introduction
The way each individual, man or woman, perceives and presents him/herself before the society, constitutes de basis that’s supports the construction of his/her interpersonal and intergroup relations, thus the relevance in studying certain phenomena through an approach that introduces gender issues (Nunes, 2007).
Throughout history, efforts have been made to combat male domination and to promote the emancipation of woman, seeking to create a space truly common to men and women, where gender differences are blurred.
In the years following the revolution of April 1974, Portugal underwent major transformations, namely in terms of democratization, access to education and work, witnessing the emergence of new opportunities to invest in women’s education and professional careers. It was with the end of the dictatorship that women “moved from domesticity to active life, testing their skills and revealing their talents” (Rebelo, 2011: 1), claiming their identity and autonomy. As a result, Portuguese women have been achieving professional positions that were traditionally reserved for men.
If on one hand, for long-time women were denied rights such as education, work or even the right to vote (Sousa, 1998), on the other hand, we are currently moving towards a reality in which women are able to exercise their rights (UNESCO, 2022a: viii). However, despite these achievements there are still systematic differences, particularly in terms of salary, career progression opportunities and the work-family conflict (Guebara & Ravache, 2021; UNRIC, 2021a; Vicente, 2000).
In fact, despite the growing participation of women in the labor market, society still has the traditional perception that domestic work and taking care of the family are primarily female tasks. In line with this reality, several studies have highlighted that women’s career focus is primarily determined by their parental status and by aspects related to the family role (e.g.Ibrahim & Al Marri, 2015; Whiting, 2008). As such, the factors that appear to most influence career are family and personal aspirations, with family responsabilities varying with the presence of children and, personal aspirations depending on spousal support (Vidwans & Cohen, 2019).
Despite all the obstacles they face in professional terms, it is undeniable that, currently, women play a key role, not only in society, but also in the companies where they work (Arioglu, 2020; Leszczyńska, 2018; Prates, 2021), namely in the profession of Certified Accountant (CA), contributing substantially to the development of those companies and appreciation of the profession itself.
Gender is a global and complex issue in accounting research (Vidwans & Cohen, 2019). So much so that, notwithstanding the fact that a century has passed since women were admitted to the accounting profession in some of the developed countries of the world, researchers continue to study the nature of gender in this profession (Del Baldo et al., 2018).
According to data provided by the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados (OCC), the organization that regulates the accounting profession in Portugal, at national level, the CA profession is mostly performed by women (54%) (OCC, 2021).
Given the importance that women have been gaining in the profession of CA in Portugal, and the fact that the relationship between the female gender and this profession in this country has been little studied, the importance of this study is justified. This research became even more relevant through the global pandemic context, during which many female accountants have seen their professional sphere coexist with their personal life, namely in the reconciliation of their profession through home office, with their role as mother and home caregiver (Reimann & Diewald, 2022).