This study aims to determine whether the feminization of the accounting profession in Romania, expressed through membership in the accounting association, has led to an adequate representation of women in key roles. We define key roles as holding leadership positions (e.g. president, director) within the professional association and being appropriately portrayed in the publication pertaining to the association.
To provide statistics on women in leadership positions, this study analyzed data collected between 2016 and 2024. The authors also performed content analysis on pictures of women and men published in the professional magazine of the Romanian accounting association, CECCAR, during this period. These findings were then contrasted with statistics on women’s membership within the association to outline the gender portrayal projected by CECCAR to the accounting labor market.
This found that representational practices within the accounting association continue to marginalize female accountants, despite their significant participation as members. However, a positive trend is underway, as the European gender legislation has the potential to improve the manner of representation of women within this profession.
This study aims to encourage the professional association and the broader society to promote gender equality, consistent with the contributions of women in the accounting profession.
This study illustrates how indirect forms of gender discrimination persist in the accounting profession, resulting in an inadequate public image of female accountants.
The inquiry, which includes a self-constructed framework based on nonverbal communication cues used in assessing pictures in the CECCAR magazine, contributes to the specialized literature on visual content analysis and gender in accounting.
