Patriarchy persists: Experiences of barriers to women’s career progression in Italian accounting academia

Why are there few women in Italian accounting academia and very few female full professors?

By adopting a phenomenographic approach, this paper investigates the barriers experienced to their careers by a sample of Italian female academics in accounting at different hierarchical levels.

What does patriarchy mean?

Patriarchy refers to social, political, and economic systems and relationships structured via gender inequality. Patriarchy pertains to a system in which males have dominance and hold the main power within society or organization. Hence, patriarchal institutions favor men and male precepts and effectively exclude or reduce the full participation of women.

Does patriarchy matter in the education context?

It was men who effectively set up and controlled the discourses in which the women entered education, progressed, and succeeded (or did not) within educational and other spaces. When women entered education and became educators, they were venturing into a male-dominated realm, and 200 years later, they are still finding themselves in patriarchal spaces.

Do universities are gendered organisations?

The literature on the academic environment reveals a workplace dominated by “old boy” networks and masculine practices, since work organisation and career progression are based on male standards. Currently, worldwide, female academics continue to experience inequality in terms of both remuneration and career progression.

The Italian situation at the University

In Italy, despite a wave of legislative reforms since the 1990s, the culture has been slow to change, and academia is still the domain of men, both in number and in decision-making power, with a lack of women on various committees, boards, and governing bodies. Subsequently, there are fewer women who are able to act as mentors and facilitators to other women. There is reluctance to involve women in research projects, leading to isolation and a lack of research culture for women, and an absence of mentors who can aid female researchers.

Situation of female in Accounting academia

Traditionally, accounting academia in Italy has been dominated by a patriarchal culture. Yet, there are fewer women in the upper echelons of accounting academia in Italy than in other European countries and fewer female full professors than in other disciplines at Italian universities.

Indeed, it was not until the early 1970s that the first females commenced as scholars in accounting academia, with a delay until 2000 when the first articles co-authored by men and women appeared in the leading journal RIREA.

The most recent legislative reforms (Italian Law 240/2010) have introduced some important changes in recruitment and career advancement, including the casualization of the academic workforce. The university system has been slow to adapt to the reforms as universities develop new approaches to recruitment and “academics adjust their career advancement strategies.”

Barriers Hindering Female Accounting Careers in Academia

This study identifies different categories of barriers that “combine” to prevent female perspectives and progression within accounting academia, which are:

1 - Barriers that apply to both men and women: Uncertainty about career opportunities, Contractual precariousness and unpaid work periods, Mechanisms specific to the academic career, Career rules continuously changing along with high discretion given to recruitment committees, Overload and heterogeneity of academic tasks, Shortcomings in training at an early stage, Little appreciation of the Ph.D. by businesses, Inadequate knowledge of the academic career from outside.

2- Barriers related to direct gender discrimination: Absence or inadequate female role models, Barriers to legitimacy, Difficulty on returning to work after maternity leave, Unequal distribution of organisational tasks, Self-limiting cultural stereotypes

3- Barriers related to indirect gender discrimination: The double-edged sword of flexible hours, Increase in international mobility requirements for career advancement, Difficulty of work-life balance, Similar to me effect.

4- Barriers related to institutional gender discrimination: Stereotypes on the abilities of women and men, Stereotypes on the division of roles in society (public vs private).

What to do to address gender barriers?

Underpinning these barriers is a patriarchal culture that has a significant influence on women’s careers in academia. It engenders difficulties in maintaining work-life balance, and shapes male and female roles in the academic workplace.

Thus, removing the barriers to gender inequality requires a sustained fight against patriarchal culture. It is not enough to challenge organizational practices through affirmative/positive actions or develop new and better welfare initiatives if the overarching culture relegates women to the domestic sphere. What is missing is a “cultural context free from stereotypes”, allowing men and women to realise their ambitions without any kind of constraint.

Proposal for affirmative/positive actions

The paper suggests actions that could inform gendered assumptions of the ‘ideal academic’ and future policies by governments, scientific associations in accounting, and universities.

Firstly, the most urgent actions are those that contribute to combatting stereotypes but also value caring activities. These actions have a long-term impact, and targeting them will eliminate other discrimination. It requires a cultural change to share the idea that caring works are shared by both women and men. Actions that embrace gender diversity as an asset and contribute to excellence in science should be undertaken. Actions supporting female empowerment, as well as orientation actions, should be undertaken, particularly in professions where they are underrepresented.

Secondly, short-term actions to support female leadership should be adopted. Policies supporting women in reaching top positions in the university should be undertaken; for instance, pink quotas and actions to promote the visibility and curricula of female candidates could be undertaken.

Thirdly, universities should undertake organisational actions to improve the context of the workplace. Actions allowing a women to have more time to devote to the activity of study and conferences, for instance, providing staff support/relief for teaching activities and institutional duties; guidelines to regulate “working times.” The establishment of female mentoring and peer-to-peer mentoring, too.

Fourthly, actions to support work-life integration should be adopted by both universities and the state. Each university should offer services tailored to women’s needs to support family care, including through kindergartens, spaces to bring children to university, summer camps for children, etc.

Fifthly, system actions aimed at career mechanisms and evaluation dimensions in competitions should be undertaken by both scientific associations in accounting and the overall university context. Scientific associations should pay more respect to gender equality within their top positions and adopt orientation actions for young people regarding career mechanisms.

Furthermore, in national scientific evaluations as well as in the calls/tenders of each university, in addition to research quality, the quality of teaching results as well in institutional and organisational tasks performed (the latter usually falling on women) should also be evaluated. Parental leave can be considered in all the calls/tenders. 

In addition, both scientific associations and the government should promote a wide debate on the current gender disparity in academia, collecting and showing data on gender participation, both at the level of academies and of individual universities.

Read the full article.

Authors at the Department of Management

Benedetta Siboni, Associate Professor

Academic disciplines: Business Administration and Accounting Studies

Teaching areas: Accounting, Public management

Research fields: Sustainability Accounting, Gender Accounting, Public management, Accounting History

Benedetta Siboni is an Associate Professor of Accounting. Member of Promoting gender balance and inclusion in research, innovation, and training (PLOTINA), HORIZON2020, G.A.666008 (2026/20). She is the past Chair of the UNIBO’s Guarantee Committee for Equal Opportunities, Employee Wellbeing and Non-Discrimination at Work (CUG) and a Member of the Scientific Committee for the Gender Report and of the Technical Scientific Committee for Social and Sustainability Reporting.