April 2024
Making women count in the accountancy profession is not going to be an easy fix, according to Professor Nelarine Cornelius.
Opening the ‘Women in Accountancy’ event at Queen Mary University of London to celebrate International Women’s Day, she stressed it is difficult to make progress when there are people determined to get in your way. She is concerned some firms in the City of London are still able to bully and harass women with impunity, hiding behind non-disclosure agreements.
This is not what non- disclosure agreements were designed for and that has to change, too.
That is not to say there aren’t good things happening in the City, pointed out Professor Cornelius. But there are still too many organisations that don’t see the problem. She felt there are now many women and men who know it is in everyone’s interest to see women in the top jobs too, and while some may resist women are on their way.
Speakers joining Professor Nelarine Cornelius (Associate Dean, People Culture & Inclusion at QMUL) were Arlyne Chinyanganya (CIMA qualified), founder of Roots to Fruits; Lorriane Twist (National director, Hays Accountancy & Finance); and Ashwini Poopalasingham (ACA PQ, QMUL Alumni at PKF Littlejohn)