Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Oral History of the Professional Trajectories of Women in Public Accounting

Introduction

Before the world wars, the man was seen as the family's sole provider, while the woman was responsible for maintaining the home and caring for the children (Boniatti et al., 2014). Due to these pre-established roles, women could not perform activities considered male activities. Thus, a separation was created between professions exclusively for women and professions restricted to men (Feitosa & Albuquerque, 2019).

Women assumed an important role outside the home during the two world wars (1914 to 1945). Husbands went off to fight and defend the country and often did not return home, or when they did, they were unable to work. Thus, it fell to women to shoulder their role in industries, in the countryside, and in providing for the family (Schlickmann & Pizarro, 2013).

During the post-war period, the number of women in the labour market increased related to the growth of their education levels. The work environment was biased, and wages were lower than for men. However, despite many challenges, women have always sought to stand out to reach leadership positions previously occupied by a public restricted to men (Araújo & Ribeiro, 2002).

After the social changes of 1930, the labour market changed. Women began to be accepted and to have their work valued. The labour legislation created by the Vargas government provided some equality between men and women regarding the workload, increased the space, and improved the employment conditions of the female public (Marques, 2016). Even with the evolution of trade and labour law, cultural issues led companies to grant positions of higher hierarchy to men, generating prejudice as an obstacle faced by women in these organisations. In addition, the lack of opportunity and the difficulty reconciling the time between domestic and professional tasks led to this impasse (Boniatti et al., 2014).

Prejudice has generated a phenomenon called the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling phenomenon excludes the female audience from the decision-making process in most organisations. Fragility, barriers, and vulnerability in the workplace are some characteristics of this phenomenon associated with women (Rodrigues & Silva, 2015).

In the accounting area, the struggle of women against prejudice and, primarily, against the existence of professional barriers have been the subject of several academic studies (Powell & Butterfield, 1994; Vaz, 2013; Palotti & Freire, 2015; Silva, 2016; Cohen et al., 2018; Oliveira & Woida, 2018; Silva et al., 2018; Arruda & Sá, 2019; Quintero & Castro, 2019). These social clashes of the female public aim for greater appreciation, better positions, salaries, and professional recognition (Lemos Junior, Santini & Silveira, 2015).

However, previous research points to resistance in the public sector, with barriers persisting to reaching hierarchically important positions within government organisations (Abreu & Meirelles, 2012) and lower salaries when women assume roles in the sector's senior management (Unt et al., 2021).

Given the wide disparity in perceptions of the glass ceiling between public accounting and private accounting, Cohen et al. (2020) encourage the development of research focusing on the perceptions of professionals working in public accounting. In addition, studies also reveal the need for deepening the glass ceiling phenomenon, given the rarity of scientific investigations about women in the Brazilian public administration (Barroso, 2015).