Gender Salary Gap in the Auditing Profession: Trend and Explanations

Abstract

This study documents the gender salary gap in the auditing profession and explains its development. Using Swedish administrative data from 2007 to 2015 for all Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), I find that the auditing profession’s overall gender salary gap has substantially narrowed during this period, and more female auditors have moved up to the top earnings group, reducing the wide salary gap at the top of the income distribution. Further analysis shows that the increase in female auditors’ client portfolio size accounts for approximately half of the decrease in the total salary gap. I also find evidence that the rise in female leadership in the Big Six firms is positively associated with the increase in female auditors’ client portfolio size. This effect is more pronounced in the middle and bottom half of firms’ hierarchy, suggesting that female representation at the top of a firm’s hierarchy has spillover benefits for lower-ranked female auditors. The implications of this study may help audit firms narrow their gender gaps and cope better with the overall talent challenges of the auditing industry.