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A SUMMARY OF THE KEY FINDINGS

After investing signicant time preparing for a career as a Chartered Accountant (CA), only 29%1 of South African female graduates stay on at public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms, and those that do are less likely to make partner than their male counterparts 2. Its not that women are not entering the profession. Every year there are more female than male graduates and their university marks are just as good3. This study asks why female CAs leave public practice, and explores dimensions of the Job Demands-Resources4 model within the South African context. The model recognises that all jobs and organisations have different limiting and helpful characteristics, termed job demands and resources, which could lead to employees having the experience of job strain or increased well-being. High levels of job strain could ultimately lead to staff turnover. This is the rst of four reports where we present the ndings in our investigation into the differences in perceptions of female qualied CAs and trainees using a large convenience sample of 851 female CAs and trainees in public practice audit, tax and advisory rms. - Report 1: Job demands: job insecurity, work overload and work-family conict - Report 2: Job resources: the external prestige of a rm, team climate, organisational support, task identity, growth opportunities and advancement - Report 3: Turnover intentions: wanting to leave - Report 4: Job demands and job resources as predictors of turnover intentions

South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) website membership statistics, 2009. www.saica.co.za South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) website membership statistics. www.saica.co.za University of Johannesburg unpublished data. Rothmann, S., Mostert, K. & Strydom, M. (2006). A psychometric evaluation of the Job Demands-Resources scale in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 32(4):76-86; De Braine, R., & Roodt, G. (2011). The Job Demands-Resources model as predictor of work identity and work engagement: A comparative analysis. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37(2), Art. #889, 11 pages. DOI: 10.4102/ sajip.v37i2.889

Women in the Workplace Research Report 2012

THE RESULTS, THE IMPACT OF JOB INSECURITY, WORK OVERLOAD AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT ON FEMALE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
Our data suggests the following: Trainee CAs feel more secure in their jobs than qualied CAs Not all CAs feel equally secure in their jobs. The most vulnerable group are qualied CAs, in contrast to trainee CAs who tend to feel more secure. In general, the least secure group are white, qualied CAs over 40 years of age, who are in relationships, who have children and who have taken up exible work hours. Young, single trainee CAs, from previously disadvantaged race groups, feel higher levels of job security. White, qualied CAs in a relationship feel the impact of work overload There are signicant differences in perceptions of work overload: white, qualied CAs feel the most overload; CAs who are married or in a relationship feel the impact of workload more than trainees and single CAs. Flexible work hours help: overall, CAs that have taken up exible work hours feel less overload than those who work standard hours. Flexible work hours can help to manage work-family conict Single CAs and trainee CAs feel less conicted over managing work-family responsibilities than those that are married or in a relationship. Generally, exible work hours can help to alleviate work-family conict as CAs with exible work hours reported lower levels of work-family conict than the other respondents. However, exible work-hour benets lead to increased perceptions of job insecurity.

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RECOMMENDATIONS ARISING OUT OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS

When it comes to job demands, we propose seven key ways that rms can look at retaining their female workforces: 1. Investigate organisational and managerial practices: Women are leaving rms due to the internal dynamics in the organisations. Poor internal dynamics are inuenced by a misalignment between womens life cycles and their personal needs as well as by prevailing societal gender and care-giving norms. Organisations should uncover the needs of women and adapt practices accordingly. 2. Implement career paths: Talent managers could limit the high levels of job insecurity of female CAs by implementing career paths that offer alternative lifestyle choices with associated career prospects for qualied CAs. Coaching could assist female CAs to set and communicate relevant career goals and to reduce fears about being replaced. 3. Understand that not all female employees have the same needs: The data shows a clear distinction between female trainee and qualied female CAs. Managers should understand that these CAs have different challenges, responsibilities and needs as their personal and career paths progress. A one-size-ts-all approach is probably not the answer to retaining females, and rms should look to nd solutions that can adjust over time. 4. Reassure white CAs that they have a role to play: The data shows that white female qualied CAs have higher levels of job insecurity and overload. Investigate factors that contribute to this, including workload, number and size of responsibilities, cultural norm differences and organisational promotion practices. 5. Take exible work hours and family-friendly policies to the next level: These should be designed around the choices that women and men could make for each of their life cycles, i.e. cycles such as early career, child-bearing, etc. Policies should accommodate the unique care-giving needs of each life cycle. 6. Take the sting out of work-family practices: Utilising work-family benets should never become a career-limiting option. Women that adopt these practices should have alternative career progression options that promote growth, development and that provide challenging projects. 7. Encourage a focus on wellness and managing stress in the workplace: The overall wellness and stress levels of female CAs and trainee CAs should become a key measure to determine workforce health. Increased levels of stress promote perceptions of overload and exacerbate work-life incongruences.

Women in the Workplace Research Report 2012

Women in the Workplace Research Report 2012

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION The research model The research method How to read the graphs Unpacking job demands 2. JOB INSECURITY Does race have an impact on job insecurity? Does being in a relationship impact job insecurity? Does age have an impact on job insecurity? Does the number of children impact job insecurity? Do exible work hours impact job insecurity? Summary and interpretation: job insecurity 3. OVERLOAD Does race have an impact on overload? Does relationship status have an impact on overload? Does exible work hours have an impact on overload? Summary and interpretation: overload 4. WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT Does relationship status have an impact on work-family conict? Does exible hours have an impact on work-family conict? Summary and interpretation: work-family conict 5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION AUTHORS Prof Anita Bosch Mrs Stella Ribeiro Dr Jrgen Becker WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE RESEARCH PROGRAMME FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SCIENCES AND DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTANCY 8 10 11 12 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 30 31 33 33 33 33 34 35

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1. INTRODUCTION
Every year at least half of the South African university graduates5 entering the Chartered Accountancy (CA) profession as trainee CAs in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms are women. On average, only 29%6 of these female trainees stay on after their training contracts end, while most of their male counterparts stay on to pursue careers in these rms. It is not that these women are incompetent. Their university results are just as good.7 Bright young women are increasingly choosing Chartered Accountancy as it offers a challenging career with great income-earning potential. They aspire to work in companies that offer safe and clean working conditions, where well-groomed female role models skilfully go about their daily tasks. Many young entrants are attracted by the prospect of specialised, stimulating work where there is great demand for skills. And the demand is growing it is estimated that an additional 22 000 skilled nancial professionals8 will be needed to ll nancial positions in South Africa in the near future. Firms have not sat idle about the fact that women are not staying on as employees. They understand the imperative to create a gender-balanced workforce, and to retain the junior female talent pool in order to ultimately have more women in senior management and partnership positions.9 As a response, they have introduced family-friendly benets like exible work-hours and extended maternity and paternity leave. But women still leave. Is it the nature of the work long hours, tight deadlines, a highly pressurised environment, large amounts of work-related travel that turns these women away? Does it become so difcult to balance work and family responsibilities that these women have no choice but to leave? This research series aims to answer these questions by using recent research from the University of Johannesburg10 based on the Job Demands-Resources model.

In 2010, the University of Johannesburg, the largest residential provider of South African Chartered Accountants, released 126 female graduates out of a total pool of 243 graduates into accounting practice. 6 South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) website membership statistics. 7 University of Johannesburg, unpublished data. 8 SAICA and Tshwane University of Technology (2010). The Financial Management, Accounting and Auditing skills shortage in South Africa, 1-95. Available from SAICA. 9 South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) website membership statistics. 10 Procopiou Ribeiro, S. (2011). The retention of female accountants in South African public practice. Unpublished Masters dissertation, University of Johannesburg.

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THE RESEARCH MODEL

JOB DEMANDS

Job insecurity Overload Work-family conict

Age Race Marital status Number of children Flexi-hours arrangement or not

JOB RESOURCES TURNOVER INTENTIONS of female CAs

Organisational job resources: External prestige

Interpersonal and social relations job resources: Team climate

Organisational job resources: Organisational support

Task-level job resources: Task identity Growth opportunities Advancement

The Job Demands-Resources model11 denes job demands and resources as follows: 1. Job demands are the aspects of a job that require sustained physical or psychological effort from employees and are associated with physiological or psychological costs like work pressure or stress. 2. Job resources are the supportive aspects of a job that lead to physiological and psychological wellbeing, assist employees in achieving our work goals, and ultimately stimulate personal growth, learning, and development. Job demands and job resources have the ability to predict certain organisational outcomes such as staff turnover intentions. When demands outweigh resources, the desire to leave an organisation increases. Conversely, effective and appropriate job resources can be used to reduce the impact of job demands, and to retain staff. In this report we focus on job demands. These provide us with important data on potential stressors in the workplace.

11

Bakker, A.B., Demerouti, E. & Verbeke, W. (2004). Using the Job Demands-Resources model to predict burnout and performance. Human Resource Management, 43:83-104.

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THE RESEARCH METHOD

During 2010, 7228 female CAs and female trainee CAs listed in the SAICA database were invited to participate in a survey. We received a robust response from 851 participants. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the measurement quality of the components included in the model as well as the overall t of the model to the empirical data. Having conrmed the measurement quality of the construct, a two-way between group analysis of variance (ANOVA)12 methodology was utilised to test how similar qualied CAs and trainee CAs are in terms of job demands in the work place. The relative differences (or similarities) between the two groups were further examined by explicitly focussing on their age, race, relationship status, number of children and whether or not they have taken up exible work hours. Out of 851 respondents, 316 stated that they are qualied CAs, 530 stated that they are trainees and ve declined to answer the question. Key characteristics of the sample are reported in the table below: Race White PDI: Asian, Black, Coloured and Indian Missing value Age 24-30 31-40 41+ Missing value Relationship status In a relationship Single Missing value Number of children None One Two Three Four and more Missing value Flexible work hours Flexible work hours No exible work hours Missing value CA 213 103 CA 187 107 16 6 CA 216 100 CA 199 46 55 8 3 5 CA 117 197 2 Trainee CA 264 266 Trainee CA 495 20 6 9 Trainee CA 297 232 1 Trainee CA 466 48 9 2 1 4 Trainee CA 62 466 2 % of CAs 63.0% 14.6% 17.4% 2.5% 0.9% 1.6% % of CAs 37.0% 62.3% 0.6% % of CAs 59.2% 33.9% 5.1% 1.9% % of CAs 68.4% 31.6% % of trainee CAs 93.4% 3.8% 1.1% 2.8% % of trainee CAs 56.0% 43.8% 0.3% % of trainee CAs 87.9% 9.1% 1.7% 0.4% 0.2% 1.3% % of trainee CAs 11.7% 87.9% 0.4% % of CAs 67.4% 32.6% % of trainee CAs 49.8% 50.2%

Not all respondents answer all questions, so the totals do not always add up to the total sample size. We have indicated unanswered questions as missing values.

12

The chosen research design also allowed for the statistical investigation of main and interaction effects. Scheffe and Dunetts T3 post-hoc tests were used when the main effect of age was examined with regard to job demands for trainee and qualied CAs.

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These ndings can be used as a guide for rms wanting to develop strategies to retain female staff. We used a convenience sample, not a representative sample, so technically these results cannot be seen to reect the perceptions of all South African women CAs and female trainee CAs. Having said that, the sample size is impressive. The statistical power, guarding against type I errors, was sufcient. Against this background, we are convinced that the trends found in the current sample are applicable to South African female CAs in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms.

HOW TO READ THE GRAPHS

In each section we present the ndings visually and discuss the implications. In this graph, CAs are shown in purple and trainee CAs in blue. We can see that CAs in a relationship are the most impacted, single trainee CAs are the least. The steep downward slope of the purple line shows that there is a big difference of perceptions between CAs who are in a relationship, and those who are not. The gentle slope of the blue line shows that the perceptions of trainees in a relationship are not that different to those who are single. The left point of the purple line is the highest point on the graph. The higher up the point, the greater the average of all perceptions for that group so CAs who are in a relationship feel the most impacted. The right point of the blue line is the lowest point on the graph, so trainee CAs who are single feel the least impacted.

UNPACKING JOB DEMANDS

We asked female CAs and trainee CAs about their perceptions around three elements of job demands: - Job insecurity13: Does she feel that she will keep her position within the rm over the next year - Overload14: Does she experience a burden from work, mental or emotional overload - Work-family conict15: Does she experience conict between her work and personal responsibilities We report the results only where demographics do have a signicant impact on perceptions.
13 14 15

Job insecurity scales Cronbach alpha = 0.899 Overload scales Cronbach alpha = 0.845 Work-family conict scales Cronbach alpha = 0.971 Cronbachs alpha reects the internal consistency reliability of measures. Typically, high values reect greater degrees of reliability, 0.80 being acceptable scale reliability.

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2. JOB INSECURITY
Job insecurity is an employees fear of losing their work16 or not remaining employed at the same organisational level. Job insecurity causes stress and has short- and long-term consequences for both employees and organisations17. For employees, high levels of job insecurity may lead to psychological withdrawal and emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion could reinforce feelings of work overload and work-family conict. The monitoring of levels of perceived job insecurity is important to public-practice, audit, tax and advisory rms, as high levels of job insecurity reect in decreased teamwork, productivity and overall employee engagement.

16 17

Hartley, J., Jacobson, D., Klandermans, B. & Van Vuuren, T. (1991). Job Insecurity: Coping With Jobs at Risk. London: Sage. Van Wyk, M. & Pienaar, J. (2008). Towards a research agenda for job insecurity in South Africa. Southern African Business Review, 12(2):49-86.

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DOES RACE HAVE AN IMPACT ON JOB INSECURITY?

Figure 1: The impact of race on feelings of job insecurity

Qualied CAs report higher levels of job insecurity than trainee CAs, with qualied white CAs in particular reporting the highest levels of job insecurity. In the South African context, these ndings are not unexpected: the Employment Equity Act (1998), the Skills Development Act (1998), and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (2003) aim to ensure racial representation in the workplace and consequently previously disadvantaged candidates are generally considered more employable than their white counterparts.

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DOES BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP IMPACT JOB INSECURITY?

Figure 2: The impact of being in a relationship on feelings of job insecurity

Both female CAs and female trainee CAs who are in a relationship feel more insecure in their jobs than their single counterparts. They are impacted by the added stress of having to balance work with personal life as they divide their attentions between these two domains. We see evidence of this in other studies: when asked about their future careers, female students note that they will have to balance their careers with their family-life, but male students do not refer to their future family-life unless probed about it. Socially, or biologically, depending on your world view, women assume care-taking responsibilities more readily than men18. The more time spent looking after family and the elderly, the less time available for face-time at work, and the greater the feelings of job insecurity.

18

Grtler, S. (2005). The ethical dimension of work: A feminist perspective. Hypatia, 20(2):119-227.

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DOES AGE HAVE AN IMPACT ON JOB INSECURITY?

Figure 3: The impact of age on feelings of job insecurity

Figure 3 illustrates that CAs and trainee CAs show increasing levels of job insecurity up to the age of 40. However, trainee CAs over 40 are the most condent about the security of their jobs (trainee CAs over 40 represent 0.7% of the respondents and therefore these results should be read with caution). The older, more experienced female CAs, who are the pool from which leaders will be chosen, are the least secure in their jobs. When people feel that their jobs are not secure, they often choose to leave an organisation and sometimes exit the profession completely. Public practice rms who are serious about the retention and subsequent promotion of women need to pay special attention to creating higher levels of job security for their middle-aged and mature female CAs.

A longitudinal study conducted in Sweden indicated that negative work characteristics, which related to high job demands and low social support, contributed signicantly to the biological stress levels in middle-aged women. Evolahti, A., Hultcrantz, M., & Collins, A. (2006). Womens work stress and cortisol levels: A longitudinal study of the association between the psychosocial work environment and serum cortisol. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 61:645.

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DOES THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN IMPACT JOB INSECURITY?

Figure 4: The impact of the number of children on feelings of job insecurity

Women around the world are having careers before they are having children: in developed nations there is a trend that women are having children later in life in 1987, just 4% of rst-time mothers were over 35 years old, in 2005 the gure more than doubled to 11%, with corresponding decreases in rst-time mothers younger than 25 years old.19 We see this in our sample: only 11.4% of the trainees (7% of the total number of respondents) have children. By looking at the interaction effect between job position and number of children we see that having children does impact feelings of job security for both CAs and trainee CAs. Its a mirror image: again, on average, CAs experience higher levels of job insecurity than trainee CAs. CAs with one child reect higher levels of insecurity than those who are childless but this drops with the second child, rises sharply with the third child and drops to the lowest point with the fourth child. Conversely, trainee CAs show the opposite to qualied CAs: job insecurity decreases as they move from one child to more, unless they get to the fourth child, where it rises steeply. There are two potential factors to consider when viewing the graph: the effect of the second shift and the impact of an extended family network. The second shift20: when women go home after work, they generally start their second shift spending more time on childcare and household tasks than men. Time spent on these tasks signicantly reduces productive work or leisure time. A Canadian study indicated that the family-friendly policies and family resources of rms showed little benet for women with children. Instead, a rms family-friendly policies and resources increased fathers productivity levels and allowed them more time for leisure20. Family-friendly policies are [therefore] not primarily benecial only to mothers trying to balance work and family.21 Cultural differences might also account for the differences in perceptions of job insecurity for trainees with children. In black African culture the extended family often helps with raising children.22 As the extended support network could help alleviate the impact of children on job security for mothers, having children becomes less of a threat to career progression.

19 20

Lui, K. & Case, A. (2011). Advanced reproductive age and fertility. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 33(11):1165-1175. Hochschild, A.R. & Machung, A. (2003). The second shift. New York, Penguin. New York Times Notable Book. 21 Wallace, J.E. & Young, M.C. (2007). Parenthood and productivity: A study of demands, resources and family-friendly rms. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72:110122. 22 Van Vlaenderen, H., & Cakwe, M. (2003). Womens identity in a country in rapid social change: The case of educated black South African women. Psychology and Developing Societies, 15(1): 6986.

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DO FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS IMPACT JOB INSECURITY?

Figure 5: The impact of exible work hours on job insecurity

For both CAs and trainee CAs, women who adopt exible work hours report higher levels of job insecurity than those who do not. Firms often offer exible working hours as a means to support work-life demands but if taking up exible work hours leads to feelings of job insecurity, the arrangement is not unlocking the benets it could. If taking up exible work hours adds to job insecurity, then there must be something about the way it is implemented that needs to be addressed. We suggest that the organisational culture of rms that offer exible work hours is not truly supportive of these arrangements. Work needs to be done in changing the attitude towards exible work hours before the full benets to both staff and the rm can be realised.

The culture of accounting public practice rms was developed by men for men and, over the years, this culture has not adapted to changes in the demographics of the profession. The male-dominated culture does not allow for life cycle needs unique to women, e.g., child-bearing, childcare and care taking in general. Barker, P.C. & Monks, K. (1998). Irish women accountants and career progression: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(8):813-823.

Organisations should ensure that people who utilise family-friendly policies should not experience negative career consequences, such as career plateauing or negative coworker relationships. Bellavia,G.,& Frone, M.R. (2005).Work-family conict. In Barling, J. Kelloway, E.K. ,& Frone, M. (Eds.), Handbook of work stress. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

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SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION: JOB INSECURITY

It is surprising that qualied CAs state higher levels of insecurity than trainee CAs. The CA(SA) designation is a prestigious one that is hard earned. National and global rms place great value on a CAs ability to add to the success of top companies worldwide. Recent economic failures and hardships have created a need and demand for CAs locally and globally. So, why do qualied CAs feel so much more insecure in their jobs than trainee CAs? We know that the career path of a trainee CA is clearly dened and planned with xed formal studies for four years and a three year-training contract on a trainee level. The clear and xed career path probably provides a sense of security. In comparison, qualied female CAs make decisions about their careers and the rm where they choose to work. Although the career pathways for qualied CAs in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms are clearly dened, it seems as if these are built around the life and career requirements of an androgynous human being. As women start to juggle the responsibilities of family, child bearing and care-giving, their sense of job security decreases. While taking on exible work hours may help to manage these conicting demands, it does not lead to an increased sense of job security. It is clear that there remains work for rms to do. The answer may be in looking at how the culture of the rm supports women as they transition from being single and able to devote their efforts and energies into their careers, to having to juggle family and care-giving responsibilities, while remaining valuable employees.

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3. OVERLOAD
Work in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms is characterised by long hours with extensive volumes of work, and the need for consistent detail and precision. It can be a demanding environment: the work is hard, the pace is fast, and the results must be accurate. Qualied CAs experience signicantly higher levels of work overload than trainee CAs. But within these groups, do all women feel the impact of work overload equally, and are any demographic variables reliable predictors of feelings of work overload?

Recent research has shown that the prevalence of psychological distress is higher in those employees who are required to work more than 60 hours per week, which is not uncommon for accountants in public practice audit, tax and advisory rms. Hilton, M.F. (2008). The prevalence of psychological distress in employees and associated occupational risk factors. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 8.

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DOES RACE HAVE AN IMPACT ON OVERLOAD?

Figure 6: The impact of race on overload

White qualied CAs report higher levels of overload than Asian, Black, Coloured and Indian CAs, but for trainee CAs there was no statistically signicant difference across racial groups. Why do qualied CAs, and in particular white CAs, feel so overloaded? Does losing the bulk of the trainee CAs once their training contract is over mean that those who stay behind have to carry the extra burden of low numbers of management staff and the additional investment in time to train up the next batch of trainees? Why is this perceived work overload different for white CAs? It is a result of culture and the nuanced differences in work and family identities, together with prevailing social norms that determine how work overload is experienced? And more importantly, what can rms do to offer additional support to these qualied female CAs who feel so overloaded?

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DOES RELATIONSHIP STATUS HAVE AN IMPACT ON OVERLOAD?

Figure 7: The impact of being in a relationship on overload

Again, CAs feel more overloaded than trainee CAs, and for both qualied and trainee CAs, being in a relationship seems to amplify perceptions of overload. This seems understandable: people in a relationship would probably have to balance their time between work, family and their partners, while their single peers have fewer demands. These ndings are reected in other studies: An Australian study found that overload could be explained by consumption pressures and gendered social expectations.23 Consumption pressures relate to the ability to be more economically active and stable when a household has a second income. Gendered social expectations are rooted in cultural norms such as what it means to be a good wife and generational thoughts about having it all.24

23

Brysona, L., Warner-Smith, P., Brown, P. & Frayd, L. (2007). Managing the worklife roller-coaster: Private stress or public health issue? Social Science & Medicine, 65:11421153. 24 Brysona, L., Warner-Smith, P., Brown, P. & Frayd, L. (2007). Managing the worklife roller-coaster: Private stress or public health issue? Social Science & Medicine, 65:11421153.

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DO FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS HAVE AN IMPACT ON OVERLOAD?

Figure 8: The impact of exible work hours on overload

Most women CAs have not taken up exible work hours: only 38% of CAs and 11% of trainees in our sample make use of exible work hours. The CAs and trainees who use exible work hours report signicantly lower levels of overload than those who do not use exible work hours.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between gender and burnout challenge the commonly held belief that female employees are more likely to experience burnout than male employees. The study revealed that women are slightly more emotionally exhausted than men, while men show higher levels of cynicism. Cynicism is a form of jaded negativity characteristic of burnout Purvanova, R.K. & Muros, J.P. (2010). Gender differences in burnout: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77:168185.

In a study of Irish women accountants, 82% of women thought that it was essential to put in very long hours, to get to the top in an accountancy career. Barker, P.C. & Monks, K. (1998). Irish women accountants and career progression: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(8):813-823.

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SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION: OVERLOAD

Women who are in a relationship have heightened feelings of work overload. This implies that roles and responsibilities both within and outside the work place need to be taken into account when understanding what drives the feeling of work overload, as time and emotional energy is spread across these multiple demands and responsibilities. A US study on married professionals indicates that the differences in working hours observed between the wife and husband related to how men and women construe their work and family identities.25 Men worked long hours irrespective of the strength of their work and family identities. In contrast, womens working hours became shorter when their family identities were strong and the work context allowed for reduced hours. While exible work hours help to alleviate the feelings of work overload, we have seen from the investigation into job insecurity that women who take up exible work hours feel less secure in their jobs than those who do not. Putting in long hours may be seen as a sign of dedication to the rm, of being someone that goes the extra mile and has the interests of the rm at heart, and consequently those that put in the hours may be seen as being more committed than those who do not.

25

Greenhaus, J.H. , Peng, A.C. & Allen, T.D. (2012). Relations of work identity, family identity, situational demands, and sex with employee work hours. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80:27.

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4. WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT
Women may choose to take on roles outside the work environment. Women may choose to become mothers, and women with aging parents and other dependants may take on the primary responsibility for looking after them. Balancing these conicting demands of work and family becomes an increasingly challenging juggling act. Is this one of the reasons why so many women are leaving public-practice, audit, tax and advisory rms? How can public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms adapt their management policies and practices to embrace the reality of care responsibilities of their female employees?

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DOES RELATIONSHIP STATUS HAVE AN IMPACT ON WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT?

Figure 9: The impact of being in a relationship on work-family conict

CAs and trainee CAs in a relationship report higher levels of work-family conict than those who are single. This is not unexpected. Many other research studies26 have already pointed out that work-life balance is often a contributing factor leading to women opting out of careers in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms.

Family supportive supervision approaches by managers assists with effective work-family integration and employees well-being. Straub, C. (2012). Antecedents and organizational consequences of family supportive supervisor behavior: A multilevel conceptual framework for research. Human Resource Management Review, 22:15.

26

Previously listed studies.

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DOES FLEXIBLE HOURS HAVE AN IMPACT ON WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT?

Figure 10: The impact of exible working hours on work-family conict

As was the case with overload, a signicant difference was noted between the CA and trainee CA groups. In both groups, however, those with exible work hours experience lower levels of work-family conict than those who do not work exible hours.

SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION: WORKFAMILY CONFLICT

Women who are in a relationship report higher levels of work-family conict than those who are not. Flexible work hours can help to manage this conict as both CAs and trainee CAs with exible work hours feel less work-family conict than those without. But it must be responsibly implemented, as we have seen previously that taking up exitime can lead to heightened levels of job insecurity. Other research has shown that arrangements for exi-hours are attractive at the surface, but often awed in implementation. While employees with more work-time control are more inclined to have lower work-family conict,27 for many, exi-hours provides for a exible place of work, not reduced hours of work. The separation between work and non-work28 is difcult, and women with exi-arrangements often end up spending more hours working than their formal agreements specify.

27

Moen, P. Kelly, E. & Huang, Q. (2008). Work, family and life-course t: Does control over work time matter? Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 73:414425. 28 Grotto, A.R. & Lyness, K.S. (2010). The costs of todays jobs: Job characteristics and organizational supports as antecedents of negative spillover. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76:395405.

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5. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Since the supply-side of female graduates to the accountancy profession is more than that of males, public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms should investigate their organisational and managerial practices. Women are opting out of these rms due to the internal dynamics in the rms based on a misalignment between their life cycles (i.e. early career, child-bearing, etc.) and their personal needs as well as prevailing societal gender and care-giving norms. Organisations should understand the needs of women and adapt practices accordingly. 2. Talent managers could limit the high levels of job insecurity of female CAs by implementing career paths that offer alternative lifestyle choices with associated career prospects for qualied CAs. Coaching could assist female CAs to set and communicate relevant career goals and to reduce fears about being replaced. 3. The data shows a clear distinction between female trainee CAs and qualied female CAs in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms. Managers should take cognisance of the fact that each group is unique and has different challenges, responsibilities and needs at any given time. Perhaps solutions to attract and retain these professionals lie in nding solutions to address the job demands, as reected in this report, of each group individually. Female employees should not be treated as a homogenous grouping. 4. Firms should pay attention to the racial dynamic relating to increased levels of job insecurity and overload as indicated by qualied white female CAs. Workload, number and size of responsibilities, cultural norm differences and organisational promotion practices could be investigated. 5. Family-friendly policies, which could include exible work hours and other arrangements, should be designed around the life cycle choices of women and men. These policies should accommodate the unique care-giving needs of each life cycle. 6. Utilising work-family benets should never become a career-limiting option. Women that adopt these practices should have alternative career progression options that promote growth, development and provide challenging projects. 7. The overall wellness and stress levels of female CAs and trainee CAs should become a key measure to determine workforce health. Increased levels of stress promote perceptions of overload and exacerbate work-life incongruences.

CONCLUSION
The ndings from this study have direct implications for organisational initiatives aimed at lowering the high turnover rate of female CAs in public-practice, audit, tax and advisory rms. The nature of work practices in the accounting profession are unlikely to change. Research suggests that providing adequate job resources may counteract the negative effects of high job demands and therefore rms need to recognise the needs of their female employees in order to develop practices and policies that will reduce job demands. In this report we showed that female CAs and trainee CAs have distinctive needs as they perceived job demand pressures differently. Targeted interventions for each of these groups are essential to improve employee retention. In addition, demographic differences such as age, race, relationship status, and number of children, have a signicant impact on perceptions about job insecurity, work overload and work-family conict. The second and third reports of this series will examine trainee and qualied CAs perceptions of job resources and turnover intentions, and identify the differences between and within these groups. Statistical ndings in the rst three reports will be integrated in report four, which will present a predictive model of turnover intentions. This predictive model has the potential to provide organisations with important information which can be used to lower attrition rates and retain women in public-practice audit, tax and advisory rms.

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AUTHORS
PROF ANITA BOSCH
Anita is energised by challenges that involve optimal organisational functioning and the creation of workplaces where employees are positive, engaged and committed. She is an Associate Professor in Human Resource Management at the University of Johannesburg where she is also the lead researcher of the Women in the Workplace research programme. She serves as the editor for Africa of the journal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and is the editor of the annual Womens Report of the South African Board for People Practices. Anita consults in the areas of HR strategy, employer branding, dialogue and large group processes, and leadership development. She holds a PhD from the School of Management at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom). anitab@uj.ac.za

MRS STELLA RIBEIRO

Stella is a qualied Chartered Accountant and a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. She completed her articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Financial Services Banking and Capital Markets division. She works as a Senior Lecturer in the department of Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg. Stella holds a Masters degree in Commerce with specialisation in International Accounting from the University of Johannesburg. As a member of the CA profession she is passionate about the provision of high quality education to prospective CAs and to nding workable solutions to address gender concerns in practice. procopioustella@gmail.com

DR JRGEN BECKER
Jrgen specialises in the building of structural and mathematical models which can be applied to diagnose and inform human capital solutions in the workplace. He has helped numerous organisations in the public and private sector to position their human capital investment through sound business intelligence. Jrgen is a consultant at the Statistical Consultancy Service of the University of Johannesburg (STATKON) and lectures psychometrics, research design and predictive statistical modelling. He has published in the areas of organizational culture, values, assessment centres, integration of minorities in the workplace, burnout and organizational wellness. jurgenb@uj.ac.za

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