Time Demands and Gender Roles: The Case of a Big Four Firm in Mexico

Abstract

This article studies time demands in a big four firm in Mexico. It does so by examining the way time demands are (re)created by masculinities and how their interplay with societal gender roles shape employees' professional and personal lives. Qualitative interviews with women and men across different hierarchical levels and departments show that long hours are an indicator of commitment and potential for career progression, thus suggesting that accounting firms' organizational culture and accountants' professional identity predominate in different cultural contexts. However, paternalistic masculinity and ‘the father’ figure appear to characterize management control in the Mexican context, in contrast to most previous studies conducted in developed countries. The article demonstrates how paternalistic relations prevent women from complying with time demands, which has important implications for career advancement. Finally, the article demonstrates how time demands perpetuate work–life conflict for all organizational members, albeit in different ways according to the individual's stage in life.