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Century plus journeys: using career crafting to explore the career success of pioneer women accountants

Mohini P. Vidwans (Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand)
Rosalind H. Whiting (Accountancy and Finance, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand)

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

ISSN: 0951-3574

Article publication date: 21 June 2021

Issue publication date: 3 February 2022

637

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the struggle for entry and career success of the early pioneer women accountants in Great Britain and its former colonies the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

A career crafting matrix guides the analysis of historical information available on five pioneer women accountants in order to understand their success in gaining entry into the profession and their subsequent careers.

Findings

Despite an exclusionary environment, career crafting efforts coupled with family and organizational support enabled these women to become one of the first female accountants in their respective countries. Their struggles were not personal but much broader—seeking social, political, economic and professional empowerment for women.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to utilize the career crafting matrix developed from current female accountants' careers to explore careers of pioneering female accountants. It adds to the limited literature on women actors in accounting and may provide insight into approaching current forms of difference and discrimination.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Natasha Podgorodnichenko for her research assistance.

Citation

Vidwans, M.P. and Whiting, R.H. (2022), "Century plus journeys: using career crafting to explore the career success of pioneer women accountants", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 355-384. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2020-4367

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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