A Study Of Male And Female Employee Turnover In Public Accounting Firms

Abstract

Many studies have focused on the problem of employee turnover in public accounting.  These studies, however, have largely ignored the recent emergence of women into a position of significance in the profession.  Conventional wisdom has often held that women may leave public accounting for different reasons than men.  This, then leads to several implications including the possibility that projected turnover rates might need to be considered in the hiring decisions, with possible repercussions for students and faculty advising students.  This research study reports the findings of a survey of 161 professionals (92 males and 69 females) who had left public accounting firms in three previous years (1983, 1984, and 1985).  Similarities and differences in the responses are presented and discussed, an conclusions are presented.