Gender inequality and disabled inclusivity in accounting higher education and the accounting profession during financial crises

Abstract

In this article, the authors find that, during financial crises, the wage gap between female and male accounting professionals declines and gender inequality in higher education is affected. In addition, less support and lower wages for disabled accounting professionals demotivate disabled students in accounting higher education. Because of budget cuts during financial crises, universities limit their support to women and the disabled. The authors consider 104 universities from the database of the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Statistics Agency for 2005–2011. Their theoretical and empirical findings establish that there was a growth in female students and a decline in disabled accounting students during the recent financial crisis. The established link between the higher education and the accounting profession enriches the accounting literature and may help policymakers to identifying better ways of enhancing equality and the inclusion of disabled students in accounting higher education to address inequality and non-inclusivity in the profession, especially during periods of financial crisis.