Abstract

It has been argued that masculinity in the field of accounting is in flux and that new gendered expectations may be emerging. This study takes an important step toward a discussion on management accountants’ gendered image and broadens understanding of masculinity in the field of management accounting. The question it raises is whether the notion of hegemonic masculinity is dominant in the image and whether the image might be expanding. A qualitative case study of a global technology company was conducted, drawing on 100 of its job advertisements for management accountants and 31 semi-structured interviews with its management accountants and operational managers. The findings revealed that even though some caring attributes, such as empathy, were constructed as important, causing the hegemonic masculinity to seem softer, the image of the ideal management accountant predominantly aligns with hegemonic masculinity, more specifically with transnational business masculinity and entrepreneurialism, which emphasize business performance and maximization of the self. The dominance of hegemonic masculinity leads to the colonization of “othered” bodies, namely women in management accounting. The results critique mainstream management accounting research, which considerably lacks gender analysis.

Introduction

Even though more women have entered professional life and management positions since the 1970s, accounting has remained male-dominated, offering men higher positions of power. Moreover, in accounting, a specific masculine image is favored and emphasized (Broadbent and Kirkham, 2008, Dambrin and Lambert, 2008, Kim, 2004). According to Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005, Connell and Wood, 2005, such an image refers to the notion of hegemonic masculinity, which is associated with aspired, idealized, and mostly socially valued “macho” masculinity showing strength, assertiveness, competitiveness, ambitiousness, rationality, and courage while refusing to acknowledge features regarded as weaknesses such as emotionality, caring, and helping others. This kind of idealized image is traditionally connected with men, especially specific men’s dominance over women and other men, and it has been widely accepted as the ideal image of an effective accounting professional (Adapa et al., 2016, Dambrin and Lambert, 2012, Galizzi et al., 2023, Haynes, 2017, Jeacle, 2011). In line with Broadbent (2016, p. 171), it can be said that the ideal management accountant tends to be understood as a man, and “positions of power are still dominated by a cohort of white middle-class men.”

Qualities such as caring, affection, cooperativeness, social competence, and relational orientation are typically viewed as women’s characteristics (Powell & Graves, 2003). These qualities are often considered to be negative features in endeavors to achieve career success in accounting (Adapa et al., 2016, Dambrin and Lambert, 2012, Galizzi et al., 2023, Haynes, 2017, Jeacle, 2011). Hence, it can be assumed that female management accounting professionals must navigate this challenging gendered environment throughout their careers. Moreover, this kind of gendered image can limit the agency of the men in management accounting who do not want to follow the features and practices of hegemonic masculinity (Haynes, 2017). On the other hand, recent studies indicate that masculinity in the field of management may be in flux, and new expectations of the image of the ideal manager may be emerging; for example, a caring personality and a more relational orientation are increasingly seen as strengths (e.g., Kangas et al., 2017, Kangas et al., 2019, Lund et al., 2019). This may challenge the dominance of hegemonic masculinity in management accounting.

Conclusion

This study offered information concerning the ideal image of management accountants from a gender viewpoint. Our main interest was whether the notion of hegemonic masculinity is dominant in the image of a management accountant. Our answer to this question is “yes and no.” In the studied business context, various forms of hegemonic masculinity are constructed as ideal features of management accountants; transnational business masculinity and entrepreneurialism were the predominant forms of hegemonic masculinity in the image. On the other hand, some caring attributes were also important in the image, causing the hegemonic masculinity to seem softer. We conclude that despite these caring features being a complementary part of the management accountant’s ideal image, hegemonic masculinity and its emphasis on business performance and maximization of the self is the prevailing assumption in the studied global technology and engineering business; this can lead to the colonization of “othered” bodies, namely women, in management accounting.

This study shows that we still have much to learn about accounting and gender (Carmona and Ezzamel, 2016, Haynes, 2017). Topical questions and dilemmas can be raised regarding whether the early twentieth-century gender struggle in the accounting profession, as described, for example, by Jeacle (2011) and later by Broadbent (2016), needs to continue for more equality in the world of management accounting and accounting generally.