Accountex Summit North inspires launch of Women in Accountancy group
It's International Women's Day and it's also Women in Accountancy day. Because a new platform for female professionals launches today, inspired by the Accountex Summit North conference in Manchester this week.
There, Elaine Clark, of cheapaccounting, chaired a round-table hot-topic discussion called Women in Accountancy. She was joined by Accountex events director Zoe Lacey-Cooper and, afterwards, it was decided that it would be a good idea to set up an association for women in the profession.
Women in Accountancy
Zoe says: "After the session we swapped emails because everyone wanted to keep in touch. Elaine and me decided to take it a step further and we are going to head up the new group. We are going to start it off on LinkedIn and take it from there."
Elaine takes up the story: "Having called out Accountex over their lack of female speakers on the programme for the first Accountex North Summit I could hardly then refuse the challenge of running a session specifically aimed at women in accountancy.
Standing room only
"I had a minor panic shortly before the event wondering if anyone would actually be interested. But, thankfully, the session was oversubscribed with standing room only."
Attendees from industry and practice saw a diverse group discuss issues that women in the profession face daily. The view is that they want more women speakers at events. They want to hear about women who have succeeded in accountancy, the challenges they have faced and how they have overcome them.
Elaine adds: "They want sessions where they can join in, share experiences, have healthy debates and learn from others. They want to be inspired and given the confidence to succeed in the world of accountancy."
And that's how the Women in Accountancy (WIA) movement was born. Follow the progress of WIA on Accounting Insight News.
