CIMA - The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants is the largest professional professional accounting management firm, globally supporting 150,000 Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA). It adopts measures to address the gender divide in leadership and to promote women in accounting.
Samantha Louis has worked for CIMA for 19 years. She moved from CIMA management in South Africa to the entire sub-Saharan Africa region, moving to London where she now works as CIMA's Strategic Vice President - Management Accounting.
"I have had the opportunity to meet many inspiring women of my career who have guided, guided and helped me," he says. "Today, I see more women in managerial positions that drive and influence the profession around the world - they certainly would not have seen it when I started work."
CIMA leads by example. He had several female chairs - CIMA in South Africa had its first female president in 1989. In the UK, the CIMA Women's Accounting Group supports women at all levels of their careers.
The Business Case
According to a McKinsey report of 2015, top quartile companies for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry averages.
The analysis of diversity has been carried out, and there have been changes in the accounting industry. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has had two women in succession.
Deloitte in the UK has promoted gender diversity in each KPI as a partner and manager. Deloitte is part of a number of companies with gender-neutral curricula, eliminating the unconscious bias between the sexes in the selection of candidates.
Samantha is positive: "You're going to do what drives your business in a sustainable way over the long term, and I think the deal has been made that diversity at all levels of leadership does it."
CIMA and the MBA
Samantha attended her MBA at the University of Pretoria in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is also a General Accountant in Management (CGMA), having studied the CIMA qualification through the CIMA Master Door, a fast track for MBA holders that exempts them from 11 exams.
CIMA's rating goes beyond traditional accounting programs, encompassing technical accounting techniques as well as modern management-oriented topics such as large data, sustainability and leadership.
CIMA students are evaluated through task-oriented case studies that reflect the current work environment. The qualification allowed Samantha to make about 18 months.
"Once I started growing in a leadership role, it was clear to me that I needed to have a better understanding of finances," he says.
"How does money really work in an organization?" What is the financial impact of the decisions you make? How are resources allocated most effectively? The CIMA qualification answers these questions.
"MBAs are often quite broad and do not take all the subjects in depth," continues Samantha. "If you aspire to work at the board or senior management level, CIMA is a very good qualification to do in addition to your MBA."
The future
Bryony Stewart is a management consultant with a leading global financial services company. He completed his CIMA in 2003 and decided to take a part-time MBA at Strathclyde Business School a year later.
She knows that women face challenges in leadership roles in accounting and finance. For Bryony, key issues include women's family and care responsibilities and the lack of women's models and mentors in some organizations. However, she is optimistic about the future.
"Progress is being made as they increase awareness, support and commitment to address the gender imbalance in the first rank. Some companies are also beginning to define the board's goals in terms of gender diversity," she says.
"It is not only a desire to improve equality statistics, but also to capitalize on financial performance amel
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