While women are hired in equal numbers to men in public accounting, they are not proportionately promoted to partner, reflecting “vertical gender segregation.” This study examines vertical segregation in director positions which are an alternative terminal destination to the partnership. Using a U.S. non-profit setting, our results demonstrate that directors signing single audit reports are more likely to be female after controlling for client and signer characteristics, a clear pattern of gender-based vertical segregation among engagement leaders. This finding provides insights into practices which divert women to lower prestige director positions. In a supplemental test, we also find a fee premium for female partners but a fee discount for female directors, which may lead to gender-bias in compensation. These findings are particularly timely considering the disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.

虽然在公共会计领域，女性的聘用人数与男性相同，但她们没有按比例晋升为合伙人，这反映了“纵向的性别隔离”。本研究考察了董事职位的垂直隔离，这是合伙企业的替代终端目的地。使用美国的非营利环境，我们的结果表明，在控制了客户和签署者特征后，签署单一审计报告的董事更有可能是女性，这是参与领导者之间基于性别的垂直隔离的明显模式。这一发现提供了对将女性转移到声望较低的董事职位的做法的见解。在补充测试中，我们还发现女性合伙人的费用有溢价，而女性董事的费用有折扣，这可能导致薪酬中的性别偏见。