Century plus journeys: Using career crafting to explore the career success of pioneer women accountants

Abstract

This paper explores the struggle for entry and career success of the early pioneer women accountants in Great Britain and its former colonies USA, Canada, Australia and NZ over a century ago. A career crafting matrix is applied to the historical information available on these pioneer women accountants in order to understand their success in gaining entry into the profession and their subsequent careers. Results show that despite the unfavourable environmental conditions, career crafting efforts coupled with family and organizational support enabled these women to become one of the first female accountants in their respective countries. Their struggles were not personal but much broader—seeking social, political, economic and professional empowerment for women.