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THE GENDER-NEUTRAL WORKPLACE – MYTH OR REALITY?

By Trina Painter and Kristen Murray, Shareholders, Weinstein Spira Company

I think we can all agree that the Accounting profession has been traditionally dominated by men. That’s no myth. But according to two women at the Weinstein Spira firm in Houston, Texas, gender neutrality is coming of age.

Trina Painter and Kristen Murray, both prominent Shareholders at Weinstein Spira & Company, share a common experience in which gender has not been perceived as an obstacle and, consequently, it did not prevent them from achieving professional satisfaction and success. For them personally, gender neutrality is not merely a dream, a hope or a wish, it is indeed a reality.

Perhaps it’s due in part to their family values and growing up around strong women role models with empowering words of wisdom. Trina’s mom encouraged her to be self-sufficient, and would tell her not to do things to please others, but rather to please herself! Similarly, Kristen’s mother instilled independence by insisting she attend an out-of-state college, urging her to speak up and be prepared to pay her own way in life.

While inner strength goes a long way in accomplishing career goals, it also takes a nurturing, flexible, non-biased workplace that truly values women—an environment that is willing to make certain concessions to accommodate parenting and other outside responsibilities—to ensure equal opportunity for climbing the ladder of success.

These women admit that they rarely see their gender in “top” management positions (although, at Weinstein Spira, a previous Managing Partner was in fact a female). But, at the entry level and in the ranks of “middle” management, women are much more visible and growing in numbers! For example, up until recently, 60% of the shareholders at Weinstein Spira were women. Due to promotions and retirements, that percentage has dropped to 42% (still a healthy amount, given we are still coming out of the male-dominated dark ages). Admittedly, this firm’s culture is unique as it allows women to advance their careers, with an attitude that they have great “people” doing great jobs!

Trina and Kristen (who also plays a role in the firm’s Human Resources) interview large numbers of women coming out of college Accounting programs and applying for work at their firm. And over 50% of the new hires are female. This matches reports touting that women represent more than 50% accounting graduates entering the profession (and have for the last 20 years). However, they make up only 19% of the partners in accounting firms nationwide. So, there’s evidently a long way to go!

It seems that something happens on the path to the corner office. Some of the blame may go to gender-biased workplaces that block the advancement of women. Certain old-fashioned firms claim that they never had a woman as partner, and they are stuck in that model. Yet, women can also shape their own careers by focusing on doing a great job. The main takeaway for women accountants is to persevere and know that it’s possible to compete for those high-level jobs…if not at your present company, then maybe at an enlightened firm like Weinstein Spira.