Maj 02 2016 1319

Managerial Auditing Journal
Gender in accounting research: a review

Hichem Khlif, Imen Achek,
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Hichem Khlif, Imen Achek, (2017) "Gender in accounting research: a review", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 32 Issue: 6,
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Article type: Literature review
Purpose: This paper reviews studies dealing with gender issues in accounting literature over
the period of 1994-2016.
Design/methodology/approach: We combine electronic and manual searches to identify

relevant studies using key words such as “gender” or “female” and “earnings quality” or
“social and environmental disclosure” or “auditing” or “tax aggressiveness”. We identify a
total number of 64 published studies.
Findings: We identify three main streams of gender accounting literature related to (1)
financial reporting (earnings quality, accounting conservatism, voluntary disclosure), (2)
auditing (audit fees, audit opinion, audit report lag) and (3) other miscellaneous topics.
Gender accounting literature uses empirical analysis, experimental approaches and interviews.
Reviewed studies deal with top management gender (CEO, CFO), board of directors, audit
committee and auditor gender. A synthesis of empirical findings shows that female
representation on the board, audit committee, CFO or CEO leads to (i) more conservative
reporting, (ii) higher level of social and environmental disclosure, (iii) less tax aggressiveness
and (iv) higher audit fees. Furthermore, auditor gender influences audit quality through (i)
lower abnormal accruals and shorter audit report lag, (ii) higher likelihood of issuing an
adverse audit opinion and (iii) higher audit fees.
Qualitative studies dealing with miscellaneous topics in gender accounting literature
generally focus on the status of women in accounting and auditing professions, gender issues
in accounting academic setting and disclosure about women in annual reports.
Originality/value: This study goes beyond a classic narrative review by presenting criticisms
to gender accounting literature and suggesting future research avenues.
Practical implications: This review informs policy makers about the effect of female
representation on accounting and auditing practices given the political debate largely shaped
by anti-discriminatory arguments concerning the under-representation of women in
management and audit professions.
Key words: Gender, accounting research, review.
Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the precious comments and

suggestions from the two anonymous reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Efrim
Boritz.
1
1. Introduction
The role and impact of women within organisations have not only been topics of concern to
researchers, but also issues of interest to policy makers (Mensi-Klarbach, 2014). Given the
ongoing political debates in the European Union concerning the under-representation of
women in firms’ management, several empirical enquiries have been conducted with respect
to female representation on boards in corporate governance and management literatures (for

reviews see: Mensi-Klarbach, 2014 and Terjesen et al., 2009). Previous studies indicate that
female representation contributes to board effectiveness and improves the board's monitoring
activities within the company (Ittonen et al., 2010).
The last decade of the 20th century was marked by the entry of women into accounting
in substantial numbers1 since their experiences and skills within companies were previously
ignored (Welsh, 1992). Francis et al. (2015, p. 1285) suggest that “there has been a significant
increase in the number of women belonging to top executive teams”. Following this increase,
the effect of women’s experiences within accounting and auditing fields has attracted more
attention among researchers (Hardies et al., 2014; Harjoto et al., 2015; Welsh, 1992).
Birnberg (2011, p. 6) suggests that research from outside the accounting sphere strongly
posits that gender differences may be worthy of consideration in accounting research since
“studies have reported significant gender-related differences in areas such as risk taking.”
Given the importance attributed to gender differences in accounting and auditing
fields, we provide a comprehensive review of extant research on the role and the status of
women in accounting and auditing fields. Hopwood (1987) has introduced the question of
gender in accounting. Recently, Siboni et al. (2016) have conducted a brief review concerning
1
For instance, Franzel (2014) states that women have represented about 50 percent of new certified public
accountants (CPAs) in the accounting profession for the past 20 years in the US setting. Available at:
https://pcaobus.org/News/Speech/Pages/03132014_Washington_Women.aspx
2
selected qualitative gender accounting studies. Haynes (2017) reviews the critical accounting
research on gender over the last 25 years. This paper extends these reviews by providing a
comprehensive synthesis of qualitative, experimental and empirical gender accounting
literature over the period of 1994-2016.
Based on a sample of 64 published studies, we identify three main streams of gender
accounting research dealing with (1) financial reporting (earnings quality, accounting
conservatism, voluntary disclosure), (2) auditing (audit fees, audit opinion, audit report lag)
and (3) other miscellaneous topics. Reviewed studies use either empirical or experimental
approaches and interviews. The review reveals (i) that the majority of studies (59/64 = 92 %)
have been conducted in developed economies2 and (ii) gender effect has been proxied through
female representation in internal governance mechanisms (board of directors, audit
committee) (e.g. Gul et al., 2011; Kyaw et al. 2015), top management (CEO, CFO) (e.g.
Harjoto et al., 2015; Francis et al., 2013), auditor gender (e.g. Ittonen and Peni, 2012; Ittonen
et al., 2013) and the interaction between client and auditor gender (e.g. Gold et al., 2009).
A synthesis of empirical findings shows that female representation on boards, audit
committees, and top management leads to (i) more conservative reporting through increased
accounting conservatism, (ii) higher level of social and environmental disclosure, (iii) less tax
aggressiveness and less intentions to commit frauds in financial statements and (iv) higher
audit fees. Furthermore, female auditors influence audit quality through (i) lower abnormal
accruals and shorter audit report lag, (ii) higher likelihood of issuing an adverse audit opinion
(e.g. going concern opinion) and (iii) higher audit fees. Mixed evidence exists for the
relationship between female representation in top management and the magnitude of
discretionary accruals.
2
Including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland and
Sweden), the UK and USA.
3
Studies dealing with miscellaneous topics in gender accounting literature use
questionnaires, interviews, storytelling and experimental and empirical analyses with a major
focus on the status of women in accounting and auditing professions, gender issues in
accounting academics, disclosure about women in annual reports and gender and analyst
forecast accuracy.
This review contributes to accounting literature as follows. With respect to
researchers, it presents the main accounting topics examined in connection with gender
representation in top management (e.g. CEOs, CFOs), internal governance mechanisms (e.g.
boards of directors and audit committees) and auditors. This literature review also highlights
the different methodological approaches used, identifies the limitations of gender accounting
literature and suggests future research avenues. With respect to policy makers, this review
informs regulators about the effect of female representation on accounting and auditing fields
given the political debate concerning the under-representation of women in powerful positions
worldwide. In this regard, our review highlights that the beneficial effect of female
representation may vary depending on the legal, institutional and cultural characteristics
within country and the degree of gender equality across countries.
The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 defines gender concepts
and presents the theoretical underpinnings for their effects on accounting and auditing.
Section 3 presents the approach used to collect studies and analyses the historical
development of gender accounting research. Section 4 reviews the main topics dealing with
gender in accounting research, presents a critical analysis for this stream of research and
provides guidance for future research avenues related to gender and its effect on accounting
phenomena. Finally, section 5 concludes the paper.
4
2. Gender in accounting research
In this section, we define the concept of gender in accounting literature and present the
theoretical underpinnings suggesting that gender may have an effect on corporate reporting
through disclosure, earnings quality and auditing practices.
2.1. Sources of gender difference
The term gender in psychology and sociology refers to feminists’ efforts to distinguish
between biological differences and those determined by social and cultural forces (Welsh,
1992). Sex differences suggest the existence of some stable intrinsic traits, whereas the
concept of gender recognises the effect of social norms on the differential perceptions of men
and women (Unger, 1990; Welsh, 1992). Feminist empiricism suggests that man-woman
differences are more related to social and cultural forces rather than to permanent character
traits (Deaux and Major, 1987; Unger, 1990). A large body of research emphasises the fact
that gender differences are related to female deficiencies with regard to male norms (Welsh,
1992). For instance, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) suggest that there are gender differences in
terms of reasoning and social behaviours and conclude that female-male differences are
established with regard to verbal ability and aggression.
The gender stream of research relies on a simplistic dualistic gender model (e.g.
dummy variable: 1 if female and 0 otherwise). This simplistic gender model adopted in most
studies assumes that men and women form distinct homogenous groups either in top
management (e.g. CEO), boards of directors, audit committees or audit teams. However,
Wajcman and Martin (2002) argue that leadership styles tend to be similar with some
differences that largely depend upon the context. Likewise, Meyerson and Ely (2003) suggest
that leadership styles may be more influenced by socialization processes within organizations
that shape a homogenous group of colleagues over years that reach top managerial positions
regardless of gender. Rose (2007) adds that female managers are quite aware of female
5
stereotypes and tend to adapt their behaviour. Accordingly, this leads to a converging pattern
of management behaviour regardless of gender (Mensi-Klatbach, 2014).
Theories of gender can be categorised into two competing views commonly named alpha and
beta (Welsh, 1992). While alpha bias tends to exacerbate gender differences, beta bias tends
to ignore them (Hare-Mustin and Marecek, 1989). Alpha bias emphasises the differences
between men and women. It suggests that women are emotional compared to men who are
reasonable (Welsh, 1992). Women’s speech at work is more tentative and attentive to
emotional concerns, while men seem to be more active, controlling, intense and present-
oriented (Cutten-Huston, 1989). Women, generally, share the virtues of community and
nurturing, while domination and rationality represent the prevailing characteristics for men
(Hekman, 1990). This bias may create differences in womens’ and mens’ roles in society in
general and in the accounting and auditing fields in particular.
According to Welsh (1992), beta bias tends to neglect and ignore gender differences and
emphasises the fact that the gender factor is neutral in organizations. She adds (p. 124) that
“the concept of job in modern Western society assumes distinct boundaries between job and
domestic life. The ideal worker is one whose central life interest is work and who has few
outside demands affecting job commitments”. Similarly, some studies (e.g., Parker, 2008)
consider the myth of gender-neutral accounting because of accounting’s “objectivity” and
“rationality”. However, in reality, accounting procedures are connected to male characteristics
(Siboni et al., 2016). Broadbent (1998) does not support the idea of gender-neutral accounting
since auditing and accounting professions are more linked to masculine values, inhibiting
feminine qualities and underestimating the emotional dimension.
2.2. Behavioural gender differences
Behavioural differences between females and males are linked to the way of planning and
group decision-making, the degree of risk tolerance and the level of overconfidence (Ittonen
6
and Peni, 2012). Gender literature suggests that women in high positions are better prepared
for meetings than men (Huse and Solberg, 2006), have higher anticipations concerning their
responsibilities (Fondas and Sassalos, 2000), and want to reveal extra competence to reach top
positions (Eagly and Carli, 2003). Women have better communicative abilities, which in turn,
gives rise to their comparative advantage over men in tasks where communication within and
among different groups is required (Schubert, 2006). Finally, women are more conservative
and less overconfident than men (Bonner, 2008; Jianakoplos and Bernasek, 1998).
Extant psychology, management and finance literatures suggest that there are
significant differences in the risk preferences of males and females (Powell and Ansic, 1997;
Bernasek and Shwiff, 2001). Baldry (1987) posits that women exhibit more compliance with
rules and regulations compared to men. Similarly, Powell and Ansic (1997) document that
women are more risk averse and cautious than men regardless of costs, familiarity or
ambiguity. For instance, Chung and Monroe (1998) test whether there are gender differences
in information processing for a sample of female and male Australian students. They
document that male students are hypothesis-confirming3 and female students are not.
2.3. Gender and financial reporting
Gender differences may affect corporate reporting practices by causing differences in earnings
quality (e.g. conservatism, earnings management) and corporate reporting policy (e.g. social
and environmental disclosure). With respect to earnings quality, gender literature suggests
that women are less aggressive than men (Siboni et al., 2016). This may influence accounting
conservatism, managerial opportunism and the risk preference of management (Thiruvadi and
Huang, 2011). The effect of gender on accounting conservatism and earnings management is
based on the fact that gender differences in attitudes towards risk support the notion that
women are more risk averse than men (Francis et al. 2015). Females are more cautious than
3
The experimental procedure consists of providing students with an initial set of information to make a decision
on whether the company was a going-concern. Then, more information items are communicated to participants
to test whether they adopt a confirming strategy concerning the first decision.
7
males in the recognition and measurement of income and assets and exert higher control of
good news than of bad news (Francis et al. 2015; Ho et al., 2014; Srinidhi et al. 2011;
Thiruvadi and Huang, 2011). Krishnan and Parsons (2008) posit that women are characterised
by more ethical behaviour compared to men in terms of accounting policy choices. This
implies less aggressive earnings management to gain financial rewards.
With regard to corporate reporting policy, females at work are more tentative and
attentive to qualitative and societal concerns and focus more on ethical behaviours (Bernardi
and Threadgill, 2010). For instance, Shauki (2011) suggests that the presence of women in the
boards and audit committees has a positive and significant effect on their commitment to
climate change issues. Similarly, Bernardi and Threadgill (2010) posit that firms with a higher
proportion of women on their boards of directors are more socially responsible. Accordingly,
women are more likely to communicate information dealing with social and environmental
issues when they are involved in key governance mechanisms (e.g. boards, audit committees).
2.4. Gender and auditing
Accounting researchers (e. g., Hardies et al. 2012; Hardies et al. 2015; Ittonen and Peni, 2012;
Montenegroa and Brasa, 2015) suggest that gender may affect auditing practices through its
effect on audit quality, audit efficiency (audit report lag), audit fees and auditor’s attitudes
towards risks. The effect of gender on auditing practices may be considered from an auditor
(supply side) or management (demand side) perspective.
From an auditor perspective, the audit procedures consist of four major stages: (i)
planning, (ii) risk assessment, (iii) collecting audit evidence, and (iv) evaluating the results
and issuing the report (Ittonen and Peni, 2012). Since there are behavioural differences
between females and males in terms of planning, risk tolerance and overconfidence, gender
may affect auditors’ planning, risk aversion and overconfidence leading to more skepticism
from female auditors when conducting audit tasks. This may directly affect audit fee
8
premium, audit report lag and audit opinion since they are a function of audit risks (inherent
and internal control risks) (Hardies et al., 2015).
From a management perspective, differences in risk preferences and aversion between
males and females may affect management behaviour. Therefore, female CEOs, women on
boards of directors or audit committees will be more conservative in assessing firm risks,
identifying potential internal control problems and evaluating internal control systems
critically (Parker et al., 2015). This implies that women in top management, boards of
directors and audit committees will require higher audit assurance to preserve their reputation,
which in turn directly influences auditor’s assessment of financial reporting quality (Huang et
al., 2014).
3. Literature search and the trend of gender research in accounting
The papers reviewed in this study are identified by a systematic process which combines
electronic and manual research. Combinations of key words used to search for relevant
studies include “gender”, “female”, “women” and “earnings quality”, “social and
environmental disclosure”, “auditing”, “tax aggressiveness”. We also focus on qualitative
accounting research dealing with gender topics. We consult editorial sources including
American Accounting Association (AAA) journals, Elsevier, EJS Ebsco, Emerald, Springer,
Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Wiley-Blackwell. We also conduct a manual
search by tracking down references in collected studies to identify the maximum number of
published papers. Our search yields a total number of 64 published studies over the period of
1994-2016. Table 1 lists these papers by journal.
Insert Table 1 about here
As shown in table 1, the collected papers come from leading accounting and auditing
journals including Accounting, Organization and Society with 11 published studies, Journal
of Business Ethics with 6 published studies, Managerial Auditing Journal and Accounting
9
Horizons with 5 studies and Critical perspectives in Accounting with 3 published papers. The
acceptance of such a topic in major accounting and auditing journals underscores its
importance in accounting literature.
As shown in figure 1, the majority of studies dealing with gender in accounting
research have been published since 2007 with 49 papers representing 76 % (49/64) of the
reviewed studies published since 1994. The peak period is 2015 with 12 published studies,
followed by 2011 and 2016 with 7 papers each year. Figure 1 shows that the curve of
published studies follows an increasing tendency from 2012 to 2015 moving from 3 studies in
2012 to 12 in 2015. This trend suggests a growing interest in gender diversity in accounting
and auditing fields following the ongoing political debates in the European Union concerning
female representation in firm’s management and auditing firms (Mensi-Klarbach, 2014;
Terjesen et al., 2009).
Insert Figure 1 about here
4. Review of studies
In this section, we review the accounting literature dealing with three streams linked to
gender issues in accounting including financial reporting (e.g. earnings quality, accounting
conservatism, social and environmental disclosure), auditing (e.g. audit fees, audit quality,
audit opinion) and other miscellaneous topics. Before doing so, we report descriptive statistics
in empirical studies concerning women representation in top management (CEO, CFO), board
of directors, audit committee, auditors and financial analysts. The proportion of female CEOs
accounts for 4.2 % in China, while it ranges from 2.7 % to 20.3 % across studies in the USA.
The statistics also show that women occupy 28 % of CFO positions in China4, far exceeding
4
This may be counterintuitive since China has higher masculinity score (66) compared to USA (62) (Hofstede, 2001).
However, one Chinese top female businesswoman states that women have a lot more opportunities in business because it is
"not gender-based, it's merit-based” (Stout, 2012). Jennifer Li, CFO of Baidu, the world's largest Chinese-language search
engine, suggests that China is a female-friendly business environment (Stout, 2012). .
10
the 9 % in USA. With regard to female representation on the board, the ratio of female
directors is 4.2 % in Kenyan banks, 5.5 % in Australian firms, 9.2 % in the UK firms and 16
% in Canadian firms. For US companies, the percentage of female representation on the board
ranges from 2.8% to 21.9 % across empirical enquiries with 72 % of boards including at least
one female director. With respect to females on audit committees, empirical studies dealing
exclusively with the US setting show that the percentage of female representation ranges from
6 % to 16.7 % across empirical studies. Concerning female representation in the auditing
field, statistics show that the percentage of female auditors is 21.1 % in Finland, while it
amounts to 9 % in Belgium. Women account for only 19 percent of partners in CPA firms in
the US setting (Franzel, 2014). Finally, Kumar (2010) shows that the proportion of female
financial analysts is about 16 % over the period of 2001-2005 in the USA.
These statistics are consistent with the “glass ceiling”5 phenomenon and emphasise the fact
that there are still some forces that prevent the ascension of women to powerful managerial
status either inside the firm’s management, as auditors or financial analysts (Maron and
Meulders, 2008).
4.1. Financial reporting
Reviewed studies deal with the effect of gender on earnings quality, social and environmental
disclosure and other corporate reporting aspects concerning tax aggressiveness and the
informativness of stocks prices. With respect to earnings quality, Barua et al. (2010)
investigate the effect of chief financial officer (CFO) gender on accruals quality in the USA.
They document that companies with female CFOs exhibit lower absolute value of
discretionary accruals. Similarly, Peni and Vahamaa (2011) examine the relationship between
5
The “glass ceiling” concept is defined as “the invisible artificial barriers created by attitudinal and
organizational prejudices, which block women from senior executive positions” (Siboni et al., 2016, p. 161). The
glass ceiling phenomenon leads to a vertical segregation implying that females occupy lower hierarchical
managerial levels.
11
earnings management and the gender of the firm’s executives. Their findings show that firms
with female CFOs are characterised by income-decreasing discretionary accruals. Duong and
Evans (2016) test the impact of CFO gender on earnings management in Australia, and
provide evidence that female CFOs engage substantially less in both accruals-based and real-
based earnings management than their male counterparts. Liu et al. (2016) investigate the
effect of CFO gender on earnings management in China. They find that female-CFO-led firms
exhibit significantly lower discretionary accruals, lower total accruals, lower abnormal
production costs, and higher abnormal discretionary expenditures, than male-CFO-led firms.
By contrast, Ye et al. (2010) investigate the association between top executive gender
diversity and the absolute magnitude of discretionary accruals in China, and document that
there is no significant difference in earnings management for firms with female top executives
and companies with male top executives.
Srinidhi et al. (2011) provide evidence that US corporations with gender-diverse
boards exhibit higher-quality earnings. Likewise, Arun et al. (2015) examine whether the
presence of women directors on boards influences earnings management practices in the UK
and provide evidence that firms with a higher number of independent female directors on
boards adopt restrained earnings management practices. Additionally, Kyaw et al. (2015)
investigate the same issue in European settings. They provide evidence that gender-diverse
boards mitigate earnings management in countries where gender equality is high (e.g.
Scandinavian countries). By contrast, Abdullah and Ismail (2016) show that women
representation on the boards is not associated with earnings management in the Malaysian
setting.
Thiruvadi and Huang (2011) investigate whether audit committee gender differences
affect the magnitude of discretionary accruals. They document that the presence of a female
director on the audit committee constrains earnings management. Sun et al. (2011) examine
12
the role of female directorship on fully independent audit committees in constraining earnings
management. They do not report a significant association between these variables.
With regard to accounting conservatism, Krishnan and Parsons (2008) examine
whether gender diversity in senior management influences the quality of reported earnings
proxied by Basu’s (1997) measure of asymmetric timeliness of accounting earnings. Based on
a sample of Fortune 500 companies, they document that the increased representation of
women in senior management positions is positively related to earnings quality. Ho et al.
(2015) investigate the association between CEO gender and conditional conservatism6 defined
in Ball and Shivakumar (2005, 2006) and Ball et al. (2008). They document that female CEOs
report income-decreasing total accruals when operating cash flows are negative. Francis et al.
(2015) examine whether there are systematic differences in accounting policy choices
between male and female CFOs in the US setting. They find a significant increase in the level
of accounting conservatism after a female CFO has been hired to replace a male CFO.
Concerning social and environmental reporting, Barako and Brown (2008) investigate
the effect of the proportion of women directors on voluntary social disclosure for Kenyan
banks. Results show that the higher level of female representation on the board is associated
with higher levels of social disclosure. Fernandez-Feijoo et al. (2013) conduct a cross-country
analysis to test whether there is a relationship between sustainability reporting and the
existence of at least three women on the board of directors. They document that the higher the
proportion of boards of directors with at least three women, the greater the level of social
reporting. Ben-Amar et al. (2015) investigate the association between female representation
on the board of directors and sustainability reporting in the Canadian setting and document
6
Conditional conservatism is measured using the effect of an interaction term (the fiondi operating cash flow (
CFOit ) and dummy variable ( DCFOit ) that equals one if operating cash flow is negative and zero otherwise) on
total accruals ( TACC it ). Conditional conservatism exists when there is a positive and significant coefficient of
this interaction term (DCFOit *CFOit ) on total accruals ( TACCit ). Female CEO ( FCEO ) is introduced as a dummy
variable (1 if female CEO and 0 otherwise) to test the effect of gender on conditional conservatism as indicated
in the following simplified model: TACCit = α 0 + α1CFOit + α 2 ( DCFOit * CFOit ) + α 3 (DCFOit * CFOit * FCEOit ) + .......+ ε it .
13
that the likelihood of voluntary climate change disclosure increases with female percentage on
boards. Liao et al. (2015) test whether the percentage of female directors on the board is
associated with Greenhouse gas disclosure in the UK. They document that the higher the
percentage of female directors on the board, the greater the level of voluntary disclosure
related to Greenhouse gas information. Finally, Rao and Tilt (2016) provide evidence that
gender-diverse boards are positively associated with social reporting practices in the
Australian setting.
Other aspects of corporate reporting have also been examined in connection with
gender diversity. For instance, Kaplan et al. (2009) examine the effect of gender on
individuals’ intentions to report fraudulent financial reporting. They document that female
participants have more intentions to report fraud for an anonymous channel than male
participants. Gul et al. (2011) examine whether gender-diverse boards (number and
percentage of female directors) affect stock price informativeness (idiosyncratic volatility) in
the US setting and document that gender-diverse boards improve stock price informativeness.
Francis et al. (2014) focus on the effect of male-to-female CFO transition7 on tax
aggressiveness8 in the U.S. setting. They find that female CFOs are associated with less tax
aggressiveness as compared to their male counterparts. Parker et al. (2015) examine whether
female audit committee members are more likely to report internal control weaknesses under
Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulation in the US setting. Findings show that the percentage of female
directors on the audit committee increases the likelihood of reporting internal control
weaknesses. Chen et al. (2016) examine the effect of female representation on the board on
internal control weaknesses and document that firms with higher percentage of female
representation on boards are less likely to have internal control weaknesses. Finally,
7
A dummy variable equals to one if a firm-year is after a (male-to-female) CFO transition and zero if a firm-
year is before a CFO transition.
8
Tax aggressiveness is measured by the probability of tax sheltering, the predicted unrecognized tax benefits,
and the discretionary permanent book-tax differences.
14
Capezio and Mavisakalyan (2015) examine whether women’s representation on boards may
mitigate fraud in the Australian setting. They show that the increase in women’s
representation on company boards is associated with a decrease in the probability of fraud.
4.2. Auditing
Reviewed studies examine the effect of auditor gender, top management gender (e.g. CEO,
CFO), gender diversity in board of directors and audit committee and the interaction between
client and auditor gender on several audit attributes (e.g. audit fees, auditor opinion, audit
delays) by using either empirical or experimental methodologies. With respect to auditor

gender, Neidermeyer et al. (2003) investigate whether gender differences affect auditors’
attitudes towards lowballing for Big 69 accounting firms in the USA. They provide evidence
that women show less acceptance of lowballing practices than men and agree significantly
more often that lowballing is a violation of the independence in appearance clause of the Code
of Professional Conduct. Hardies et al. (2012) investigate the effect of gender difference on
auditors’ overconfidence in Belgium and document that there is no significant difference in
the degree of overconfidence between male and female auditors.
Niskanen et al. (2011) examine the association between auditor gender and earnings
management in Finland. They find that female auditors exert more discretion in income
reporting measured by the absolute value of discretionary accruals. When the analysis is
undertaken separately for sub-samples of income increasing (positive) and income decreasing
(negative) discretionary accruals, the results suggest that female auditors are more
conservative. Similarly, Ittonen et al. (2013) examine the effect of female auditors on earnings
management for a sample of Finnish and Swedish listed firms. They document that companies
with female audit engagement partners are associated with smaller abnormal accruals.
9
Arthur Andersen, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG Peat Marwick, and Price
Waterhouse.
15
Ittonen and Peni (2012) investigate the association between auditor gender and audit
fees in three Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, and Sweden). They focus on three
variables measuring female representation in the audit mission including (i) a female group
which is a dummy variable that equals 1 if only female auditor partner(s) are engaged, (ii) a
female ratio which measures the proportion of female audit engagement partners for each
client and (iii) and a dummy variable that equals 1 if the audit engagement partner is female.
Their findings show that all three of these proxies of female representation in audit
engagement have a positive and significant effect on audit fees. Hardies et al. (2015) examine
whether there is a female audit fee premium in Belgium and document that client firms pay
higher audit fees (by about 7 percent) to female auditors. Overall, the positive association
between female auditors and audit fee suggests that audit quality is higher under female
auditors.
Hardies et al. (2016) investigate the association between the likelihood of issuing a
going-concern opinion (GCO) and auditor’s gender in Belgium. They provide evidence that
female auditors are more likely to issue GCOs than male auditors.
From a management perspective, Ittonen et al. (2010) examine the association between
female audit committee representation and audit fees in the US setting. They document that
firms with female audit committee chairs pay significantly lower audit fees. This result
implies that the presence of women in audit committees may reduce the need for assurance
provided by external auditors leading to lower audit fees. Huang et al. (2014) investigate
whether CEO gender10 and female representation on boards affect audit fees in the US setting.
They document that female CEOs and the percentage of females on boards are positively
associated with audit fees. Likewise, Harjoto et al. (2015) examine the association between
CEOs and directors’ gender on audit fees and audit delays in the US setting. Their findings
10
Female CEO is a dummy variable that equals 1 if the CEO is female and 0 otherwise.
16
show that companies with female CEOs have significantly higher (shorter) audit fees (audit
delays) than those with male CEOs.
With regard to client and auditor gender, Gold et al. (2009) examine the effect of client
and auditor gender on auditors’ judgments with respect to final recommendation for a write-
down of obsolete inventory. Their findings show that both male and female auditors are more
persuaded by a male client to change their adjustment journal entry to reduce the value of
inventory. In addition, female auditors were (less) more influenced by (female) male clients
than male auditors.

4.3. Miscellaneous topics
We identify 28 studies dealing with miscellaneous topics in accounting examining the effect
of gender on accounting academic settings, accounting professional careers, gender
representation in annual reports and financial analysts.
4.3.1. Accounting academic settings
Ameen et al. (1996) investigate the difference between female and male accounting students
regarding their willingness to engage in various unethical academic activities (e.g. cheating)
in the USA. They provide evidence that females are more reluctant than males to undertake
unethical academic activities. Bay et al. (2001) focus on the relationship between accounting
professors’ gender and job satisfaction in accounting faculty in the USA. Findings show that
job satisfaction is not related to the gender of accounting faculty. Callaghan and Papageorgiou
(2015) test whether gender may affect the locus of control and the performance of accounting
students in a large South African university. They document that female students have higher
locus of control and performance compared to male students in South Africa.
4.3.2. Accounting professional careers
Maupin and Lehman (1994) examine whether stereotypical sex role characteristics affect
auditors’ partnership positions, auditors’ job satisfaction levels and auditors’ turnover. They
provide evidence that a high stereotypical masculine sex-role orientation is significantly
17
(positively) related to higher occupational status, job satisfaction and lower turnover. Fogarty
et al. (1996) examine whether gender differences affect work environment (performance,
commitment, satisfaction and turnover) within large international accounting firms in the
USA. Findings show that gender differences affect only turnover intention, as females are
more likely to express their intention to depart voluntarily from public accounting firms. Hull
and Umansky (1997) test whether sex-role stereotypes negatively influence the evaluation of
female accountants, thus reducing the upward mobility of women to partnerships in public
accounting. They provide evidence that such a hypothesis is not supported and that male
managers devalue female managers who exhibit certain “masculine” leadership
styles. Barker and Monks (1998) examine the career progression of Irish Chartered
Accountants. They document that women making rapid career progression generally make
sacrifices with regard to their personal lives. Collin et al. (2007) examine the gendered
character of the early phase of qualification to become a certified auditor in Sweden. They
document that there is no significant difference in certification time between female and male
certified auditors.
4.3.3. Gender discrimination in accounting and auditing professions
Whiting and Wright (2001) examine whether there is gender equity within the accounting
profession in New Zealand. Females are found to have lower job status with less
compensation compared to their male counterparts, due to fewer years of work experience and
lower career aspirations. Anderson-Gough et al. (2005) explore the gendering process in two
Big 5 audit firms operating in the UK. They observe a male domination phenomenon in the
office and gendered audit firms. Dalton et al. (2014) investigate the question of whether there
is gender discrimination in the audit profession. They document that female auditors
experience lower levels of a gender discrimination when employed in audit firms
characterised by (1) more female partners; (2) stronger ethical climates; (3) supports of
18
alternative work arrangements; and (4) high level of top management support for the personal
well-being of their employees.
4.3.4. The balance between family and professional career
Anderson et al. (1994) examine whether gender, family structure, and physical appearance
influence future career success in public accounting. They provide evidence that married
women having children and females characterised by poor physical appearance were
generally perceived as less likely to succeed. Haynes (2002) examines the relationship
between body and self for women accounting professionals during the pregnancy period and
early motherhood in the UK. Women accounting professionals seem to embrace a newly
gendered identity during and after their pregnancies, which could be either oppressive,
liberating, or both, depending on the context. Windsor and Auyeung (2006) investigate the
effect of gender and dependent children on professional accountants’ career progression in
Australia and Singapore. They provide evidence that gender and dependent children
negatively influence the advancement of female accountants, particularly mothers. Dambrin
and Lambert (2008) examine the views of women working for two Big 4 accounting firms in
France and show the difficulties of motherhood and the dilemma of whether to become a
mother. They provide evidence that women who want to manage this dilemma use tactics to
adapt their teams to their work–life balance. Komori (2008) examine the real‐life experiences
of Japanese female accountants from a range of backgrounds and generations. She provides
evidence that Japanese women accounting professionals apply a uniquely feminine approach
in their day‐to‐day work. Whiting (2008) investigates the strategies that New Zealand
chartered accountants use to combine work and family responsibilities and relate these
strategies to chartered accountants’ career success. She shows that chartered accountants who
adopt either Traditional Men or Work First Women strategy demonstrate higher levels of
career success. Lupu (2012) focuses on the mechanisms fostering women’s rarity in top
19
positions within Big 4 French accounting firms. She documents that balance between family
and professional career represents a crucial factor that causes derailment of women’s careers
from a very early stage. Buchheit et al. (2016) examine work-life balance perceptions across
(1) Big 4 versus smaller public accounting firms, (2) audit versus tax functions, and (3) public
accounting versus industry work contexts. They document that work-family conflict and job
burnout perceptions are highest in the Big 4 accounting firms.
4.3.5. Other qualitative studies
Almer et al. (2003) investigate the determinants of the adoption of a flexible work
arrangement within two national and one regional assurance services firms in the USA. Their
findings show that family considerations and gender represent the most important
determinants of a flexible work arrangement adoption. Kornberger et al. (2010) explore the
effects of a flexible work initiative that was developed with the aim of creating ‘‘the best
professional workplace for women”. They show how the initiative that was designed to
challenge the status quo, in practice, translated into a mechanism that actually reinforced
gender barriers.
20
Jeacle (2011) traces the story of one of Scotland's first female chartered accountants,
Helen Lowe. Such a story illustrates the gender struggle in the accounting profession and the
obstacles faced by Helen Lowe to achieve career success within the discriminatory
environment of the accounting firm.
Kamla (2012) explores how globalization affects the experiences of Syrian women
accountants. Interviews reveal that Syrian women accountants have used the practice of
veiling (wearing the hijab) in order to negotiate greater opportunities for access to work in a
patriarchal context. However, the increased influence of private/Western accounting firms has
mainly hindered veiled women’s ability to access and progress at work.
Joyce and Walker (2015) examine the horizontal segregation in the UK insolvency
profession based on interviews conducted with female and male practitioners. Horizontal
segregation pervades different levels of practice and women are perceived as experts in the
personal–emotional aspects of practice.
4.3.6. Disclosure about women in annual reports
Adams and Harte (1998) examine disclosure with respect to gender and employment in
corporate annual reports of major British banking and retail companies. They document that
some companies have made simple policy declarations concerning womens’ employment and
little was reported concerning their performance achievements. Likewise, Benschopa and
Meihuizen (2002) investigate the representations of gender in the financial annual reports
through texts, statistics and images in Netherlands and provide evidence that stereotypical
images are dominant and the representational practices reinforce the traditional gendered
division of labour.
4.3.7. Analyst forecast accuracy
Kumar (2010) examines whether there are differences in the forecasting style and abilities of
female and male analysts. He documents that female analysts make more accurate forecasts
21
and their accuracy is higher in market segments in which their concentration is lower. Gul et
al. (2013) examine the effect of board gender diversity on analyst forecast accuracy. They
find a positive association between the presence of female directors or female non-executive
directors on corporate boards and analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy.
4.4. Limitations of gender research
One criticism that can be addressed to the gender stream of research in accounting is its
reliance on a simplistic dualistic gender model (e.g. dummy variable: 1 if female and 0
otherwise). Reducing this complex phenomenon to a simple dualistic model may run a danger
of justifying sex segregation at work.
Another major criticism that can be addressed to gender accounting research is its focus on
gender type (men versus women) without taking into consideration gender orientation. In this
regard, Bay et al. (2001) suggest that “since gender stereotypes are widely held in society, and
especially since the stereotype for women is prescriptive, women, even those who are aware
of the potential effects of such stereotypes, may not be able to escape the socialization and
adopt more "masculine" traits”. In the same vein, Ely and Meyerson (2003) posit that other
factors such as education, age, functional background, job experience may strongly influence
behaviour aside from gender issues.
In addition, examining the effect of gender in accounting and auditing fields should take into
account the role of organizational and societal influence on gendered behaviour (Mensi-
Klatbach, 2014). With respect to society, organizations are influenced by their environment. If
masculine norms and values are already prevailing in one society, this will lead to more glass
ceiling phenomena and hierarchical segregations. By taking into account the Gender Gap
Index, researchers will be able to determine the specific inequality regime, and thus formulate
more precise hypotheses. With respect to organizations, a holistic picture of the impact of
22
women in a company can be gained by focusing on the steepness of the hierarchy and degree
and pattern of segregation (Acker, 2006).
Moreover, Kumar (2010, p. 394) argues that “due to a self-selection process, only
women with above average abilities would choose the analyst profession and, consequently,
on average, female analysts are likely to be more skillful than male analysts” and this may
simply justify why female analysts make more accurate forecasts compared to their male
counterparts. The same reasoning can be extended to auditing and management fields since
only women with above average ability will get access to leading positions in top
management or audit firms and this may also provide a simple explanation for the reported
empirical results. This represents also a potential limitation of empirical gender accounting
research commonly named the selection bias issue (Hardies et al., 2014). In auditing for
example, matching between audit engagement partners and clients is possibly not random
since some firms may more often choose female auditors or because female auditors may be
more often appointed to such clients (Hardies et al., 2014). However, few gender accounting
empirical studies have controlled for such a problem by conducting additional analysis to
confirm their initial results by testing for the endogeneity problem11. Besides, it is possible
that some firm characteristics simultaneously affect the appointment of female audit
engagement partners, female executives, directors and dependent variables (e.g. audit fees,
discretionary accruals, disclosure) (Ittonen and Peni, 2012). For example, industry
specialization, experience and tenure may affect the choice of auditors, CEO, CFO and
financial analysts. This is why the interpretations of the results reported should be considered
with caution.
11
One possible alternative to test for the endogeneity problem is to use the Heckman two-stage procedure.
Hardies et al. (2014) have discussed this point and conducted a sensitivity analysis. An illustration of Heckman
two-stage procedure is presented in section (5) Supplementary Analyses.
23
Furthermore, the low female representation in senior management (e.g., Peni and
Vahamaa, 2010 with a percentage of 2.659 % female CEO in their sample), boardroom,
auditing profession (e.g., Ittonen et al., 2013 with a percentage of 11.818 % female auditors in
their sample) may limit the statistical power of statistical tests and data analysis (Ittonen et al.,
2013). This low representation may also limit the actual influence of female presence in
senior management, board of directors, audit committee and auditing field on various
accounting phenomena examined (Arun et al., 2015).
It should be noted that empirical enquiries dealing with the same topic in gender
accounting research (e.g., earnings management, audit fees and firm disclosure policy) seem
to be redundant and overly reliant on the same levels of analysis since they focus either on
management gender (CEO, CFO, female representation on board of directors or audit
committee) or auditor’s gender. However, no empirical study has tested for the possible
interaction between management and auditor genders. In addition, reviewed empirical
enquiries do not consider all management characteristics in terms of gender representation in
one model to be able to compare their explanatory powers in explaining accounting
phenomena.
A final critique that can be addressed to qualitative gender accounting research is its
exclusive focus on the gendered position of women in accounting because women generally
face more oppressive social and cultural relations in the masculine professional context
(Haynes, 2017). Nevertheless, men may also operate under oppressive social and cultural
relations and experience economic deprivation and exploitation under global capitalism
(Haynes, 2017).
4.5. Future research perspectives
Several topics remain unexplored with respect to gender in accounting research. For instance,
there is a lack of empirical evidence concerning the interaction between management-auditor
24
gender (e.g. CEO gender, CFO gender and audit partner gender: male-male; female-male;
male-female and female-female) in shaping accounting conservatism, discretionary accruals,
sustainability reporting, tax avoidance, tax aggressiveness, audit fees and audit report lag.
Moreover, the representations of gender in financial annual reports should be revisited
in light of the emergence of new reporting models and disclosure practices (e.g. intellectual
capital disclosure, internet-based disclosure, integrated reporting) to test whether the
masculine connotation of financial reports still exists.
In addition, there is a lack of empirical enquiries concerning the effect of women

representation on accounting phenomena on emerging economies since we identify only two
studies conducted in Kenya and Syria. In this regard, Sadler and Erasmus (2005) and Terjesen
et al. (2009) suggest that emerging countries are characterised by high levels of inequality and
research into gender inequality is especially important. Accordingly, future research may
consider the effect of management gender diversity (CEO, CFO, boards of directors and audit
committees) on corporate reporting in emerging countries. Future empirical enquiries may
also consider the effect of females on the auditing field in emerging economies to test how the
presence of a female audit partner in an audit engagement affects audit quality (e.g. audit fees,
audit delays and audit opinion).
Furthermore, it will be interesting to test how the percentage of female equity
ownership in companies may affect accounting conservatism, discretionary accruals,
sustainability reporting, tax avoidance and tax aggressiveness since ownership represents a
key governance mechanism which may exert an effect on management decisions. It would be
also interesting to undertake comparative studies between high (China, USA, Italy) and low
masculinity societies (Sweden, Denmark) with respect to gender effect on reporting policy
and auditing (Hofstede, 2001).
25
From a qualitative perspective, several research avenues can be suggested. For
instance, Siboni et al. (2016) suggest an examination of the lived experience of women
operating in diverse accounting roles and organisations (companies, accounting profession
and universities) to gain more understanding about the obstacles and barriers they face. They
add that the focus on the different perceptions of men and women on accounting disclosure in
the annual report is worthy of consideration to assess whether there is an opportunity for a
change in traditional accounting information systems.
Qualitative gender accounting research examining female advancement in the

accounting profession should also refine the analysis by integrating the number and ages of
family members for whom females are primarily responsible and explore the promotion
potential of women among public accounting firm partners, who make actual promotion
decisions in practice.
Additionally, since gender accounting research does not distinguish between gender
type and gender orientation, future research may focus on gender identity. Accordingly,
qualitative studies should distinguish between women adopting feminine and masculine
behaviours within accounting profession and investigate how these specific personal traits
may affect their professional career status.
Finally, qualitative gender accounting research has been exclusively devoted to
examining the gendered position of women in accounting. Accordingly, Haynes (2017) has
called for critical gender accounting research that analyses the gendered position of men
within accounting profession. Therefore, it is worthy, for example, to examine the status of
male auditors working within accounting firms led by female partners.
5. Conclusion
In this paper, we review gender accounting literature over the period of 1994-2016. We
identify 64 studies published since 1994. An analysis of the historical development of topics
26
dealing with gender in accounting research reveals that 76 % of the reviewed studies have
been published since 2007 and the peak period is 2015 with 12 published papers. The
majority of studies has been conducted in the US setting (28). Researchers have also
examined the effect of gender on auditing and accounting practices in other developed
countries such as Australia, Belgium, Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden), Canada,
France, Japan, the UK and New Zealand, developing countries (China and South Africa) and
emerging economies (Kenya and Syria).
A summary of studies shows that female representation in top management (CEOs,

CFOs), boards of directors, audit committees and female auditors influence several
accounting phenomena including earnings quality, reporting policy, audit quality and analyst
forecast accuracy. These results reported confirm that there are gender differences in attitudes
towards risk and corroborate the general assumption that women are more risk averse than
men and this will affect women’s behaviour either if they are involved in firms’ management
or they operate as auditors. Studies using interviews to examine the status of women in
accounting and auditing professions highlight the existence of the glass ceiling phenomenon
and vertical segregation.
Female representation in accounting and auditing fields represents an important issue
for policy makers. Accordingly, this study provides a comprehensive review that may inform
regulators about the effect of female representation in accounting and auditing fields given the
ongoing political debate worldwide related to this question. However, we argue that more
research has to be conducted in developing and emerging economies since it is difficult to
generalise findings across national boundaries given the different cultural, economic,
regulatory environments and gender equality regimes (Terjesen et al., 2009).
Our hope is that this paper will influence future gender accounting research. First, the
description of the different approaches used and the different topics examined will familiarise
27
established and aspiring researchers with respect to gender in accounting and auditing fields.
Second, providing a summary of the main findings of gender accounting research is an
important step to underscore the main contributions of these studies. Finally, this review
provides guidance for future research enquiries to gain more understanding about the question
of gender in accounting and auditing fields.

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35
36
Table 1. Count of published reviewed studies
Journal Number
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 2
Accounting, Organizations and Society 11
Advances in Accounting, incorporating Advances in International Accounting 2
Advances in Public Interest Accounting 1
Accounting Horizons 5
Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics 1
Asian Review of Accounting 1
Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 2
Australian Journal of Management 1
Contemporary Accounting Research 2
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 1
Critical perspectives in Accounting 3
European Accounting Review 1
Finance Research Letters 1
Gender in Management : An International Review 2
International Journal of Auditing 2
International Review of Financial Analysis 1
Journal of Accounting and Economics 1
Journal of Accounting Research 1
Journal of the American Taxation Association 1

Journal of Business Ethics 6
Journal of Governance Management 1
Journal of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 1
Managerial Auditing Journal 5
Managerial Finance 1
Meditari Accountancy Research 2
Pacific Accounting Review 1
Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 1
Quarterly Journal of Accounting & Finance 1
Spanish Journal of Accounting and Finance 1
The British Accounting Review 2
Total 64
37
Figure 1. Trends of gender accounting
research over the period of 1994-2016
Number of publications
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
38
Table 2. Female representation in senior management, boardroom, audit committee,
auditing profession and financial analyst job
Authors Setting Period Mean %
CEO
Krishnan and Parsons (2008) USA 1996-2000 Ranges from 20.300 for the first quartile
to 1.900 for the fourth quartile
Peni and Vahamaa (2010) USA 2007 2.659
Ye et al. (2010) China 2001-2006 4.200
Ho et al. (2014) USA 1996-2008 9.700
CFO
Barua et al. (2010) USA 2004-2005 9.144
Arun et al. (2015) UK 2005-2011 2.800
Liu et al. (2016) China 1999-2011 28.000
Board of directors
Barako and Brown (2008) Kenya 2006 4.180
Gul et al. (2011) USA 2001-2006 10.900
Gul et al. (2013) USA 2001-2007 72.600 (at least one female directors on
the board)
Huang et al. (2014) USA 2003-2010 2.800

Upadhyay and Zeng (2014) USA 2000-2003 21.900
Ben-Amar et al. (2015) Canada 2008-2014 16.000
Capezio and Mavisakalyan Australia 2002-2007 5.497
(2015)
Liao et al. (2015) UK 2011 9.200
Audit committee
Ittonen et al. (2010) USA 2006-2008 10.839
Sun et al. (2011) USA 2003-2005 16.700
Thiruvadi and Huang (2011) USA 2003 6.000
Harjoto et al. (2015) USA 2000-2010 16.100
Parker et al. (2015) USA 2007-2012 10.500
Auditors
Niskanen et al. (2011) Finland 1999-2006 21.100
Ittonen and Peni (2012) Finland 2005-2006 11.959
Ittonen and Peni (2012) Sweden 2005-2006 10.119
Ittonen and Peni (2012) Denmark 2005-2006 18.181
Ittonen et al. (2013) Sweden and 2005-2007 11.818
Finland
Hardies et al. (2014) Belgium 2008 9.000
Hardies et al. (2015) Belgium 2008-2011 13.400
Montenegro and Bras (2015) Spain 2003-2006 17.647
Financial analysts
Kumar(2010) USA 2001-2005 16.450
39
Table 3. Summary of reviewed studies

Authors Research question Sample Methodology Main findings
Reporting practices (earnings quality)- Board of directors
Krishnan and Whether gender diversity in senior A sample of Fortune 500 Empirical Increased representation of women in senior management positions is positively
Parsons (2008) management influences the quality of companies related to earnings quality.
reported earnings
Srinidhi et al. (2011) Whether U.S. corporations with gender- 2,480 firm-year observations over Empirical Firms with greater female participation on their boards exhibit higher earnings quality.
diverse boards exhibit higher-quality the period of 2001–2007
earnings
Arun et al. (2015) Whether women directors on the board 1,220 firms over the period of 2005- Empirical Firms with a higher number of female and independent female directors adopt
influence earnings management in the 2011 restrained earnings management practices.
UK
Kyaw et al. (2015) The association between women Companies from several European Empirical Gender-diverse boards mitigate earnings management in countries where gender
directors on the board influence earnings countries equality is high.
management in European settings
Abdullah and Ismail Whether the representation of women on Malaysian listed companies over Empirical Women representation on the boards is not associated with a reduction in the practice
(2016) the boards is associated with a reduction the period of 2008-2011 of earnings management
in the practice of earnings management
Reporting practices (earnings quality)- Top management (CEO, CFO)
Barua et al. (2010) The effect of CFO gender on accruals A sample of 2,781 firm-year Empirical Companies with female CFO exhibit lower absolute value discretionary accruals.
quality observations from USA over the
period of 2004-2005
Ye et al. (2010) The association between top executive A sample of 5,216 firm years from Empirical No significant difference in earnings management for firms with female top
gender diversity and the absolute 2001 to 2006. executives and companies with male top executives.
magnitude of discretionary in China
Peni and Vahamaa The effect of CFO gender on earnings A sample of Standards & Poors Empirical Female CFOs are associated with income-decreasing discretionary accruals.
(2011) management 500 firms as of July 2007
Ho et al. (2015) The association between CEO gender A sample of 13,206 firm years over Empirical When operating cash flows are negative, female CEOs will report also income-
and accounting conservatism the period of 1996-2008 decreasing total accruals.
Francis et al. (2015) How the change from male to female A sample of 92 S&P 1500 firms Empirical There is a significant increase in the level of accounting conservatism after a female
CFO affects accounting conservatism who change their CFOs from male CFO has been hired to replace a male CFO.
to female in the 1988–2007 period
Duong and Evans The effect of CFO gender on earnings A sample of 556 firm-year Empirical Female CFOs engage substantially less in both accruals-based and real-based earnings
(2016) management in Australian setting observations over the period of management than their male counterparts.
2006-2010
Liu et al. (2016) The effect of CFO gender on earnings A sample of 11,644 firm-year Empirical Female -CFO-led firms exhibit significantly lower discretionary accruals, lower total
management in Chinese setting observations over the period of accruals, lower abnormal production costs, and higher abnormal discretionary
1999-2011 expenditures, than male-CFO-led companies.
Reporting practices (earnings quality)- Audit committee
Thiruvadi and The effect of audit committee gender on 320 firms from the S&P Small Cap Empirical The presence of a female director on the audit committee constrains earnings
Huang (2011) the magnitude of discretionary accruals 600 with a December 31, 2003 management by increasing negative discretionary accruals.
fiscal year
Sun et al. (2011) The association between female A sample of 175 firms over the Empirical There is no significant association between both variables.
directorship on fully independent audit period of 2003-2005
committees and earnings management
40
Table 3. Continued
Reporting practices (social and environmental reporting)- Board of directors
Barako and Brown The effect of the proportion of women directors on the A sample of 40 Kenyan Empirical Higher level of women representation on the board is associated with
(2008) board on voluntary social reporting banks higher level of social disclosure.
Fernandez-Feijoo et The relationship between sustainability reporting and the A sample of 22 countries Empirical In countries with a higher proportion of boards of directors with at least
al. (2013) existence of at least three women on the board of directors during 2011 three women, the level of social reporting increases.
Ben-Amar et al. The effect of female representation on the board of A sample of 541 firm-year Empirical The likelihood of voluntary climate change disclosure increases with
(2015) directors on sustainability reporting in the Canadian observations over the period female percentage on boards.
setting of 2008-2014
Liao et al. (2015) The association between the percentage of female directors 329 largest companies in the Empirical Higher percentage of female directors on the board is positively associated
on the board and Greenhouse gas disclosure UK with Greenhouse gas disclosure.
Rao and Tilt (2016) Gender-diverse boards and social reporting Top 150 listed companies in Empirical Gender-diverse boards are positively associated with social reporting.
Australia
Reporting practices
Kaplan et al. (2009) Effect of gender on individuals’ intentions to report A sample 111 evening Experimental Female participants have more intentions to report fraud for an anonymous
fraudulent financial reporting MBA students channel than male participants do.
Gul et al. (2011) The association between the percentage of female A sample of 5,021 firm-year Empirical Gender-diverse boards improves stock prices informativness.
directors and stock price informativness observations over the period
of 2001-2006 in the US
setting
Francis et al. (2014) The effect of male-to-female CFO transition on tax A sample of 974 firm-year Empirical Female CFOs are associated with less tax aggressiveness as compared to
aggressiveness observations with 92 cases their male counterparts.
of male-to-female
transitions
Parker et al. (2015) The association between the percentage of female audit A sample of 10,888 firm- Empirical The percentage of female directors on the audit committee increases the
committee members and the likelihood of reporting year observations from 2007 likelihood of reporting internal control weaknesses.
internal control weaknesses to 2012
Capezio and The association between women’s representation on boards A sample of 128 publicly Empirical Women’s representation on company boards is associated with a decreased
Mavisakalyan and fraud listed companies in probability of fraud
(2015) Australia over the period of
2002-2007
Chen et al. (2016) Female representation on the board and internal control A sample of 4,267 firm- Empirical Firms with higher percentage of female representation on boards are less
weaknesses year observations from 2004 likely to have internal control weaknesses
to 2013
41
Table 3. Continued
Auditing-auditor-gender
Neidermeyer et al. Gender differences affect auditors’ attitudes towards A sample of 152 accountants working Experimental Women show less acceptance of lowballing practice than men.
(2003) lowballing in Big 6 accounting firms in USA
Hardies et al. (2012) Auditors’ gender difference in overconfidence A sample of 122 Belgian auditors Experimental There is no a gender difference in overconfidence within a
population of auditors.
Niskanen et al. (2011) The association of auditor gender and earnings A sample of 13,908 observations over Empirical Female auditors are more conservative since their presence is
management in Finland the period of 1999-2006 associated with income decreasing earnings management.
Ittonen and Peni The association between auditor gender and audit fees A sample of 1,210 firm-year Empirical Female representation in the audit engagement has a positive
(2012) observations from firms listed on the and significant effect on audit fees.
NASDAQ OMX exchanges in
Denmark
Ittonen et al. (2013) The effect of female auditors on earnings A sample of 770 firm-year Empirical Companies with female audit engagement partners are
management observations from listed firms in associated with smaller abnormal accruals.
NASDAQ OMX in Finland, and
Sweden
Hardies et al. (2014) The association between the likelihood of issuance of A sample of 7,105 financially Empirical Female auditors are more likely to issue GCOs than male
a going-concern opinion and the presence of a female distressed private Belgian companies auditors.
or male audit engagement partner
Hardies et al. (2015) Whether there is a female audit fee premium A sample of 57,723 firm-year Empirical There is a female audit fee premium of about 7%.
observations from Belgian firms
audited by 93 female and 599 male
auditors
Auditing-management –gender
Ittonen et al. (2010) The association between female audit committee A sample of 941 firm-year Empirical Companies characterized by higher female audit committee
representation and audit fees in the US setting observations from the S&P 500 firms chairs have significantly lower audit fees.
over the period 2006-2008
Huang et al. (2014) The effect of CEO gender and the percentage of A sample of 8,402 Compustat firm- Empirical Female CEOs and the percentage of females on the board
females on board on audit fees year observations from US firms for positively are positively associated audit fees.
2003-2010
Harjoto et al. (2015) The effect of CEOs and directors gender on audit fees A sample of 12,153 observations from Empirical Female CEOs have significantly higher (shorter) audit fees
and audit delay in the US setting 1,642 firms between 2000 and 2010 (audit delays) than those with male CEOs.
Auditing-interaction between management & auditor-gender
Gold et al. (2009) The interaction between client and auditor gender on A sample of 81 US-auditors employed Experimental Female auditors were (less) more influenced by (female) male
auditor’s judgment on final recommendation for a by large CPA firms (41 females and clients than male auditors.
write-down of obsolete inventory 40 males)
42
Table 3. Continued
Miscellaneous (accounting academic setting)
Ameen et al. The association between female and male accounting A sample of 285 accounting majors at Experimental Females are more reluctant than males to undertake unethical
(1996) students regarding their willingness to engage in various four U.S. public institutions academic activities.
unethical academic activities
Bay et al. (2001) The relationship between accounting professors gender and A sample of 393 assistant, associate and Experimental Job satisfaction is not related to gender.
job satisfaction in accounting faculty in the USA full professors (89 women versus 304
men).
Callaghan and The association between locus of control and the A sample of 719 South African students Experimental Female students are found to have significantly higher levels of
Papageorgiou performance of accounting students in a large South African both locus of control and student performance compared to their
(2015) university male counterparts.
Miscellaneous (accounting professional career)
Maupin and Whether stereotypical sex role characteristics affect auditors’ A sample of 461 auditors in the USA Experimental High stereotypical masculine sex-role orientation is significantly
Lehman (1994) partnership positions, auditors’ job satisfaction levels and (221 males and 240 females) (positively) related to higher occupational status, job satisfaction
auditors’ turnover and lower turnover.
Fogarty et al. Whether gender difference affects work environment A sample of staff auditors (267 men Experimental Gender differences affect only turnover intention, as females are
(1996) (performance, commitment, satisfaction and turnover) with and 193 women) more likely to express their intention to depart voluntarily from
large international accounting firms in the USA public accounting companies.
Hull and Whether sex-role stereotypes negatively influence the 959 auditors from Big 6 audit firms in Experimental Managers devalued female managers who exhibited certain
Umansky (1997) evaluation of female accountants USA “masculine” leadership styles.
Barker and Monks A comparison between the career progress of men and A sample of Irish Chartered Interviews Female accountants encounter obstacles that are not faced by
(1998) women within accounting profession Accountants their male counterparts and that women making rapid career
progression generally made sacrifices with regard their personal
lives.
Collin et al. How gender affects the early phase of qualification to A sample of 57 newly certified auditors Experimental There is no significant difference in certification time between
(2007) become a certified auditor in Sweden female and male certified auditors.
Miscellaneous (gender discrimination in accounting and auditing professions)
Whiting and Gender equity within the accounting profession in New Members of the Institute of Chartered Experimental Females are found to have lower job status with less
Wright (2001) Zealand Accountants of New Zealand (postal compensation compared to their male counterparts, due to fewer
questionnaire) years of work experience and lower career aspirations.
Anderson-Gough The gendering process in two Big 5 audit firms operating in Around 80 British trainee auditors over Interviews A male domination phenomenon in the office and gendered
et al. (2005) UK 1995-2000 audit firms.
Dalton et al. Whether there is gender discrimination in the audit profession A sample of 234 female auditors Experimental Female auditors exhibit lower levels of gender discrimination
(2014) employed in public accounting firms when employed (1) in audit firm with more female partners; (2)
in audit firm with stronger ethical climates; (3) in audit firm that
supports alternative work arrangements; and (4) in audit firm
characterised by high level of top management support for the
personal well-being of their employees.
43
Table 3. Continued
Miscellaneous (the balance between family and professional career)
Anderson et al. Whether gender, family structure, and physical 127 auditors in USA Experimental Women married with children characterised by poor physical appearance
(1994) appearance influence future women career success in were generally perceived as less likely to succeed.
public accounting
Haynes (2002) The relationship between body and self for women A sample of 15 women in Interviews Women accounting professionals embrace a newly gendered identity
accounting professionals during the pregnancy period 2002 and 2003 during and after their pregnancies, which could be either oppressive,
and early motherhood liberating, or both.
Windsor and The effect of gender and dependent children on A sample of 183 respondents Empirical Gender and dependent children negatively influence management
Auyeung (2006) professional accountants’ career progression in in the large international advancement of female accountants, particularly mothers.
Australia and Singapore accounting firms
Dambrin and The views of women working for two Big 4 accounting 24 interviews with male and Interviews Women who want to manage this dilemma use tactics to adapt their teams
Lambert (2008) firms in France and the difficulties of motherhood and female auditors to their work–life balance.
the dilemma of whether to become a mother.
Komori (2008) The real‐life experiences of 66 Japanese female 66 Japanese female Interviews Women accounting professionals in Japan have brought about changes in
accountants accountants accounting practice there by applying a uniquely feminine approach in
their day‐to‐day work.
Whiting (2008) The strategies used by New Zealand chartered 69 charted accountants (42 Interviews Five types of strategies are identified including Traditional Men,
accountants to combine work and family females and 27 males) in Traditional Women, Work First Women, Family Balancers, and Stepping
responsibilities 2002 Stone Men. Traditional Men and Work First Women strategies are
associated with higher levels of career success.
Lupu (2012) Factors behind women’s scarcity in top positions within 23 male Experimental Recruitment, first confrontation with audit work environment, team
Big 4 French accounting firms and female (semi-structured socialization within Big 4 audit firms, pace, rhythm and balance between
accountants interviews) family and professional career represent factors that cause derailment of
women’s careers from a very early stage.
Buchheit et al. Work-life balance perceptions across (1) Big 4 versus 1,063 practicing CPAs in the Experimental Work-family conflict and job burnout perceptions are highest in the Big 4
(2015) smaller public accounting firms, (2) audit versus tax US setting accounting firms.
functions, and (3) public accounting versus industry
work contexts.
Miscellaneous (other qualitative studies)
Almer et al. (2003) The determinants of the adoption of a flexible work 157 auditors (92 males and Experimental Family considerations and gender represent the most important
arrangement within two national and one regional 65 females) determinants of a flexible work arrangement adoption.
assurance services firms in the USA
Kornbergera et al. The effects of a flexible work initiative for women 7 managers Interviews The best professional workplace designed for women translate into a
(2010) mechanism that actually reinforced gender barriers.
Jeacle (2011) The story of one of Scotland's first female chartered Helen Lowe as the first Historical analysis The story describes the gender struggle in the accounting profession and
accountants Scottish accountant of one accountant the obstacles faced by Helen Lowe to achieve career success
career
Kamla (2012) How globalization affects the experiences of Syrian A sample of Syrian women Interviews The increased influence of private/Western accounting firms has mainly
women accountants working in the accounting accountants hindered veiled women’s ability to access and progress at work.
professions
Joyce and Walker The horizontal segregation in the UK insolvency 19 interviewees Interviews Women are perceived as experts in the personal–emotional aspects the UK
(2015) profession insolvency profession
44
Table 3. Continued
Miscellaneous (disclosure about women in annual reports)
Adams and Harte Disclosure with respect to gender and employment in the Major British banking and retail Empirical There is no significant disclosure concerning women.
(1998) corporate annual reports companies during the period of 1935-
1993
Benschopa and The representations of gender in the financial annual 30 corporations from Netherlands Empirical Stereotypical images are dominant and the representational
Meihuizen (2002) reports through texts, statistics and images practices reinforce the traditional gendered division of labour.
Miscellaneous (analyst forecast accuracy)

Kumar (2010) Whether there are differences between the forecasting Data cover the period from May 1983 Empirical Female analysts make more accurate forecasts and their accuracy
style and abilities of female and male analysts to June 2006 for 18,292 analysts who is higher in market segments in which their concentration is
cover 21,107 stocks lower.
Gul et al. (2013) The effect of board gender diversity on analyst forecast A sample of 2,200 U.S. listed firms Empirical Board gender diversity is positively associated with analysts’
accuracy from 2001 to 2007 earnings forecast accuracy.
45

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Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the precious comments and

ongoing political debates in the European Union concerning the under-representation of

to female representation on boards in corporate governance and management literatures (for

activities within the company (Ittonen et al., 2010).

Given the importance attributed to gender differences in accounting and auditing

comprehensive synthesis of qualitative, experimental and empirical gender accounting

literature over the period of 1994-2016.

Based on a sample of 64 published studies, we identify three main streams of gender

female representation in internal governance mechanisms (board of directors, audit

A synthesis of empirical findings shows that female representation on boards, audit

relationship between female representation in top management and the magnitude of

This review contributes to accounting literature as follows. With respect to

within country and the degree of gender equality across countries.

phenomena. Finally, section 5 concludes the paper.

through disclosure, earnings quality and auditing practices.

2.1. Sources of gender difference

established with regard to verbal ability and aggression.

of management behaviour regardless of gender (Mensi-Klatbach, 2014).

general and in the accounting and auditing fields in particular.

consider the myth of gender-neutral accounting because of accounting’s “objectivity” and

“rationality”. However, in reality, accounting procedures are connected to male characteristics

feminine qualities and underestimating the emotional dimension.

2.2. Behavioural gender differences

2.3. Gender and financial reporting

implies less aggressive earnings management to gain financial rewards.

2.4. Gender and auditing

(supply side) or management (demand side) perspective.

and internal control risks) (Hardies et al., 2015).

From a management perspective, differences in risk preferences and aversion between

3. Literature search and the trend of gender research in accounting

environmental disclosure”, “auditing”, “tax aggressiveness”. We also focus on qualitative

1994-2016. Table 1 lists these papers by journal.

Insert Table 1 about here

importance in accounting literature.

As shown in figure 1, the majority of studies dealing with gender in accounting

female representation in firm’s management and auditing firms (Mensi-Klarbach, 2014;

Terjesen et al., 2009).

Insert Figure 1 about here

6 % to 16.7 % across empirical studies. Concerning female representation in the auditing

financial analysts is about 16 % over the period of 2001-2005 in the USA.

Insert Table 2 about here

4.1. Financial reporting

and companies with male top executives.

Srinidhi et al. (2011) provide evidence that US corporations with gender-diverse

presence of women directors on boards influences earnings management practices in the UK

management. They do not report a significant association between these variables.

With regard to accounting conservatism, Krishnan and Parsons (2008) examine

proxied by Basu’s (1997) measure of asymmetric timeliness of accounting earnings. Based on

women in senior management positions is positively related to earnings quality. Ho et al.

percentage of female directors) affect stock price informativeness (idiosyncratic volatility) in

representation on company boards is associated with a decrease in the probability of fraud.

delays) by using either empirical or experimental methodologies. With respect to auditor

auditors’ overconfidence in Belgium and document that there is no significant difference in

the degree of overconfidence between male and female auditors.

delays) than those with male CEOs.

than male auditors.