An unsuitable profession for a woman? The work experience of women members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
In this blog, based on a paper she gave at the WESWWHN Annual Conference in October 2022 on Women and Money, Dr Jane Berney describes the barriers set before the first women accountants. In October 2022 I was fortunate to be invited to present a paper to West of England & South Wales Women’s History Network Annual Conference on the theme of Women and Money: A Historical Perspective. My take on the theme was a review of the careers of the first female members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) as a means to explore the barriers they faced in their professional lives, how they navigated these barriers, and how their experiences reflect societal views on women and money that persist today. The ICAEW was founded in 1880 by royal charter. As a professional body its aim was, like all professional bodies, to promote its members as the experts in their field and well positioned to advise business and government on financial matters. As Anne Witz