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This commentary interprets the data from the 2004 AICPA Report issued by the Work/Life and Women's Initiatives Executive Committee in terms of implications for accounting faculty who advise students and who have an interest in conducting research on public accounting workplace issues. The discussion highlights the survey results relating to the status of women, including current trends in women's advancement and alternative career paths in public accounting, and the career aspirations of today's generation of students. We link these AICPA findings to other research on public accounting workplace issues, and broader research that suggests some generational and gender differences that should be considered in advising students. Throughout we also suggest potential research questions. Finally, because it is not uncommon for students to ask us questions about academic careers, we consider gender bias parallels that may exist between public accounting and the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are widely offered in public accounting as a tool to retain valued professional staff. Previous research has shown that participants in FWAs are perceived to be less likely to succeed in their career in public accounting than individuals in public accounting who do not participate in FWAs (Cohen and Single, 2001). Research has also documented an increasing backlash against family-friendly policies in the workplace as placing unfair burdens on individuals without children. Building directly on a previous study in this journal (Cohen and Single, 2001), this study addresses the issue of whether the documented perceptions toward FWA participants are the result of electing to take part in the FWA or the result of bias against employees with children. The research questions are addressed in a 3 x 2 experimental setting in which we manipulate FWA participation, along with family status and gender of a hypothetical manager in a public accounting firm. Our findings indicate that FWA participants are viewed as less likely to advance and as less committed than individuals without children or individuals who had children but who were not taking part in a FWA. Male FWA participants are viewed as less likely to succeed than female FWA participants. This effect appears to arise from a perception that FWA participants are willing to make sacrifices in their career to accommodate family needs and thus may not be as committed to making the sacrifices perceived as necessary to meet the rigorous demands of the public accounting environment. This raises the ethical question of what could be done to change the culture in public accounting to foster a substantive support system for individuals who want to balance a family and a career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assurance services firms have attempted to mitigate turnover and personnel shortages by offering flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to their professional staff. Little is known however, about what factors affect whether these professionals choose to adopt a FWA. This study examines factors potentially associated with both intentions to adopt and ultimate adoption of a FWA for a sample of seniors, managers, and partners at two national and one regional assurance services firms. Results indicate that intentions to adopt a FWA are significantly affected by the importance of opinions of workplace referents, family considerations, and gender. A marginally significant effect was also found for likelihood of organizational support and work consequences. A subset of these factors was found to affect actual adoption of a FWA. The results are discussed in terms of implications for the human resources department of assurance services firms striving to create an appropriate work/family balance for their professionals as well as suggesting avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1990, the multinational public accounting firms have all adopted flexible work arrangement policies. In part, the firms are doing this to fulfill an ethical obligation in creating an appropriate professional environment for their employees. This study examines the effect of participation in a flexible work arrangement program on an individual's professional success and anticipated turnover as perceived by the participant's peers and superiors. Subjects from one Big Five accounting firm read a description of a manager and answered a series of questions about the likelihood of the manager's promotion to partner, voluntary and involuntary turnover, and desirability on a job. Gender and participation in a flexible work arrangement were manipulated in a 2×2 design. The results indicate that participation in a flexible work arrangement evoked significantly more pessimistic predictions on all of the dimensions. Gender did not have an effect on the likelihood ratings. Follow-up questions about the factors that enhance and hinder individuals' career success in each work scenario indicated that the perceived ability to "juggle" and the ability to "pull one's weight" potentially affects evaluations of what it takes to be a successful professional in the financial services environment. Implications for professional and ethics practice and research are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]