Do Mother and Father Auditors Have Equal Prospects for Career Advancement?

Abstract

This research investigates whether parental role and gender are associated with career advancement for professional female and male auditors employed by international audit firms in Denmark. Management at four levels, from partner to lower level non‐management employee, are examined to determine whether a relationship holds between being a parent and gender. We find that more parents achieve advancement to higher levels of employment than non‐parents. However, mothers are significantly disadvantaged relative to fathers in achieving senior levels of employment. There is no significant difference in the likelihood of career advancement between female and male auditors that are not parents implied by a lack of significant results for the gender variable in the regression analyses. Years of experience also significantly explains career advancement in the organization while age is significantly correlated with experience of the auditor.