Men, Women and Wages in Accounting

A special series of commentary on the 2002 CareerBank.com Salary Survey Report

Once again, the CareerBank.com annual Salary Survey finds that men and women are not on an equal playing field when it comes to pay in the accounting, finance and banking industries. In some cases, there are $30,000+ wage discrepancies between men and women with the same titles and college degrees. Below are a few highlights at different levels (visit the full report here):

- Single Female Staff Accountants with bachelors' degrees earn $36,802; Single Male Staff Accountants with bachelors' degrees earn $38,464. [$1,662 Salary Gap: Females in this category are earning 96% of what Males earn in the same category.]

- Female Senior Accountants with bachelors' degrees earn $47,185; Male Senior Accountants with bachelors' degrees earn $56,404. [$9,219 Salary Gap: Females in this category are earning 84% of what Males earn in the same category.]

- Female CFOs with masters' degrees earn $70,908; Male CFOs with masters' degrees earn $112,109. [$41,201 Salary Gap: Females in this category are earning 63% of what Males earn in the same category.]

The question remains--why is this happening? Recent statistics show that more women are graduating with accounting degrees than men; more women are CFOs today than ten years ago; the list of positive statistics goes on. So what causes such a dramatic difference in pay according to sex?

Although there appears to be a shrinking variation at the lower position levels, the gap seems to widen as the position levels increase. Some would argue that it happens because women are more likely to work in part-time positions, or have slower progressing careers because of family commitments. But the fact of the matter is, this cannot be the answer for the majority of these statistics because our survey allowed us to look at men and women with the same degrees and the same titles, and the gap still exists.

Hopefully studying these statistics further will help promote discussion and understanding as to why the numbers are what they are, as well as what can be done to amend this dilemma. It's important that we recognize this as an ongoing issue and find creative ways as an industry to bridge the gap. We hope our report will serve as a useful resource as employers and employees alike consider this issue in the coming months. Our professional community is going through a time of rather drastic change, and it is issues such as this gender gap that are important to discuss if we're committed to a positive professional evolution.