Motherhood: The key to the glass ceiling ? the case of the big four in France

Abstract

Women in public accounting firms are still proportionally much fewer in the highest levels of the hierarchy than men, whereas the recruitement at a junior level tends to be more and more gender balanced. The aim of this paper is to propose ana analysis of the mechanisms that explain the barriers encountered by auditor mothers in their hierarchical progression within the Big Four in France.case study; glass ceiling; gender; public accounting firms; motherhood.