There was a strong push from companies to be more inclusive of underrepresented communities in the hiring process and provide greater opportunities for career advancement. The COVID-19 pandemic stalled these efforts, but the “Great Resignation” and subsequent rebound in the workforce represented a new opportunity for companies to reprioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. In 1991, the Glass Ceiling Commission was formed with the purpose of studying and providing recommendations on the artificial barriers that prevent “women and minorities” from advancing into management-level positions within their organization (“Report on the Glass Ceiling Initiative,” US Department of Labor, 1991, https://tinyurl.com/2pvw8bvx). More recently, in response to social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, companies created or enhanced their DEI efforts to equalize the hiring process and create opportunities for career advancement for marginalized groups. This work was supported by President Biden’s Executive Orders advancing gender and racial equity signed upon taking the presidential office in January 2021. Four years later, in January 2025, DEI initiatives were once again in the public eye after these Executive Orders were revoked by President Trump.
Companies have devoted significant resources and time to develop and enhance their DEI efforts. With the revoking of the DEI-focused Executive Orders, it remained to be seen whether companies would continue to invest in their DEI programs, reduce efforts, or stop completely. In May 2025, a survey of over 500 companies found that 70% of companies reported being quieter about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks and DEI, but still did the work (Benevity, “2025 State of Corporate Purpose,” May 2025, https://tinyurl.com/4dsf4pvx). Even if these DEI practices continue at many companies, the question remains whether such initiatives will be considered a success in the future. A recent study found hope for improvement in racial disparity among hiring in public accounting (M.A. Nickerson and L.M. Walters, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Hiring in Public Accounting,” The CPA Journal, June 2025, https://tinyurl.com/bdcmrmza). This article explores the question of whether the glass ceiling initiative has been successful within the accounting profession.
CPA Firm Investments in Gender Equity
There has been an immense amount of time and money invested into gender equity programs in recent years. With the changing political environment, major government contractors, including CPA firms such as Deloitte and KPMG, have reduced their DEI programs (E. Slack-Jorgensen, “Big Four Firms Split on Diversity Initiatives Amid Political Pressure,” The Trusted Professional, Feb. 24, 2025, https://tinyurl.com/yjrnvj95).
Although broader DEI initiatives have been reduced or stopped entirely by some CPA firms, all of the Big Four still support women’s equity on their gender equity webpages. EY and PwC go one step further with their efforts by continuing gender-focused programs to attract talented professionals and support women at leadership levels. EY hosts several women-centered programs, including EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program, EY-Parthenon NextGen Women, and EY Women in Technology Program. PwC supports women in different ways through recognition and research. The firm celebrated International Women’s Day 2025 by sharing the results of qualitative research with more than 40 of PwC’s most senior women leaders. Based on this research, the firm developed a “Career Advice Toolkit: Insights from Women Leaders,” which provides actionable insights and guidance to support career navigation.
Gender Trends in the Profession
By purely looking at the trends in the accounting profession, it appears that the glass ceiling initiative had a significant impact in terms of gender equity. In 1989, 4.1% of partners in the nation’s largest accounting firms were female (Peggy D. Dwyer, “Recommendations for the Upward Mobility of Women: What Do CPAs Think?” The CPA Journal, May 1994, https://tinyurl.com/5cbaw6we). The AICPA’s 2021 Trends report stated that 39% of partners in accounting/finance functions of US CPA firms were female in 2020 (https://tinyurl.com/s4wy74cs). This was further supported by the 2023 NYCPA-Rosenberg Survey that reported that the percentage of female partners in all size firms of the participating New York CPA firms in 2022 was 26% (CPAJ Staff, “State of the Profession,” November/December 2023, https://tinyurl.com/3pdhtf2z). These reports suggest that the accounting profession has positively benefited from the glass ceiling initiative, with the percentage of female partners increasing nearly tenfold on a national level over this 30-year period, increasing from 4.1% in 1989 to 39% in 2023.
There are concerns that this data could be misleading, for two reasons. First, the male to female partner ratio is not representative of the gender ratio of the accounting profession as a whole. In 2020, the ratio was 56% male and 44% female in US CPA firms (AICPA 2021). Although there was a significant increase in the number of female audit engagement partners in the 30-year period after the establishment of the Glass Ceiling Commission, there is still a 5% gap between the gender mix of the accounting profession and those women who reach partner level on a national scale. For this reason, the partner gender ratio is not fully representative of the gender mix of the current accounting profession. A second concern is the opportunities available to female audit partners. Do female audit partners have access to the same high-profile clients as male audit partners? The purpose of the Glass Ceiling Commission and subsequent investment by accounting firms was to provide opportunities to women and people of color to advance into management and decision-making positions. These questions prompted an analysis of the types of companies that female audit partners currently audit.
Examination of Lead Engagement Partners by Gender
The analysis used the S&P 500 companies as its sample size. The male to female lead engagement partner breakdown was examined amongst the S&P 500 companies as of July 25, 2025. The results show that the lead engagement partners who audit the 500 companies in the S&P 500 index as reported on the PCAOB Form AP filing are 74.20% male and 25.80% female. This finding is lower than the AICPA 2021 Trends report, but is similar to the 2023 NYCPA-Rosenberg Survey of New York firms.
One important distinction of this data is that some engagement partners serve as the lead engagement partner for multiple S&P 500 company audits. After removing the duplicate engagement partners who serve as the lead engagement partner on two or more S&P 500 audits, a total of 453 unique engagement partners remained. Exhibit 1 shows the number of male and female lead engagement partners by firm.
EXHIBIT 1
Lead Engagement Partner by Firm and by Gender (S&P 500 Audits)
Of the 453 unique lead engagement partners, 73.73% are male and 26.27% are female. The gender mix of male and female lead engagement partners for S&P 500 company audits is thus lower than the national percentage of female partners (39%) as well as the percentage of women in the accounting profession (44%).
Gender disparity among auditing firms.
To further analyze the disparity of male and female lead engagement partners, the issue was examined by each audit firm by comparing the number of female lead engagement partners to total audit firm lead engagement partners within the S&P 500 sample. Deloitte & Touche LLP has the highest female lead engagement partner representation at 26.85% (with 29 unique female lead engagement partners to the 108 total unique Deloitte & Touche LLP partners). As illustrated in Exhibit 2, the Big Four are relatively similar, ranging from 24% to 27%. This indicates that men still dominate as engagement partners of S&P 500 clients. For future years to show progress towards gender equity, this gap should narrow and be proportional to the gender mix of partners.
EXHIBIT 2
Female Lead Engagement Partners by Firm (S&P 500 Audits)
Gender disparity among S&P 500 company sectors.
The gender disparity issue was also examined at the S&P 500 company sector level by comparing the number of female lead engagement partners to total lead engagement partners within the specific sector. The results indicate that gender disparity does exist within the S&P 500 sectors, as shown in Exhibit 3. There are certain sectors with ratios of female lead engagement partners over 30%, such as materials, consumer discretionary, and industrials; however, there are also sectors that are under 20%. These sectors include energy, real estate, and utilities, which are predominantly male lead engagement partner oriented. The sectors over 30% are closing in on the national average for female partners, while the bottom sectors are significantly below the national average. The purpose of the glass ceiling initiative is to ensure equal access to high-profile companies for all lead engagement partners, regardless of partner gender or company sector.
EXHIBIT 3
Female Lead Engagement Partners by Sector (S&P 500 Audits)
Glass Ceiling Initiative Impact
Has the Glass Ceiling Commission and corresponding investment of time and resources by CPA firms been successful? The answer depends upon how success is defined. If the goal was strictly to increase the number of female partners in accounting firms by providing opportunities for growth into management and decision-making positions, then yes, the glass ceiling initiative could be considered successful. In more than 30 years since the creation of the Glass Ceiling Commission, the percentage of female audit partners increased from 4.1% to 39% on a national level. Although it is not representative of the female population across the profession, this is astonishing growth, and it is a tribute to the achievement of the women who made a difference in the accounting profession during this time.
If success is defined by equal access to high-profile public company audits, then the answer changes. The percentage of female lead engagement partners on S&P 500 companies is significantly less than the percentage of female partners in the profession. Some Big Four firms, such as Deloitte & Touche LLP, are doing a better job than others, but all firms need to continue to do a better job of identifying growth areas and not restricting female lead engagement partner audit work. Certain sectors, such as energy and real estates, are dominated by male lead engagement audit partners, and this cannot continue if the profession wants to keep up its progress.
Companies are reluctant to continue the significant investment of both time and money into gender-focused initiatives if these programs are not achieving their overarching goal of creating more gender-equitable hiring practices and offering the same career advancement opportunities to all employees. This is also true for CPA firms, which want to know that their efforts are actually helping underrepresented groups. The data discussed above shows improvements in gender disparity and provides some evidence that accounting firms should continue to invest in gender-centered initiatives. With continued support of gender initiatives, the proportion of female lead engagement partners of high-profile public companies may one day reach parity with males.
