Why it is rare to see a woman as a finance or accouting senior manager or director?

I think that women may succeed in some specialties and in other disciplines may not succeed because they do not fit her

I am all for gender equality and consider myself to be a feminist to a certain extent. If there is a job that a man can do can also be done by women. Unfortunately we do not live in the world where gender equality is common and sexes are still segregated. I have only worked in New Zealand where women are generally considered and given equal opportunities as men. I have seen female pilots, truck drivers, bricklayers, construction workers, engineers, chefs, doctors, maids, aeronautical engineers and the list goes on. However, the unspoken truth is that no matter how and where in the world we preach gender equality, there is always an element of gender bias. 

From my own personal experience, my previous employer had the Human Resources manager taken maternity leaves twice in two years. That resulted in higher cost to the company for the paid maternity leaves (as per New Zealand Laws), finding temporary substitutes and also the productivity got affected. While we cannot deny that gender equality is crucial, at certain positions it is understandable if a certain level of certainty is assured to the employer. 

 

This is a very good question yet falls into a grey area where we will never have black and white answers to.

 

I however personally believe that if there is  a job that a man can do, it can be done by a woman (unless of course it is anatomically impossible). 

I personally feel that.. The reason is because of the extra time required in finance job.. which is difficult for a woman to allocate because of multiple roles in her life... Late sittings or long hour jobs are quite normal to achieve the target deadlines...

There are many highly qualified women in the disciplines of accounting and finance, but perhaps it is the perception that a woman at certain stages in her life (child-bearing/responsibilities to family) will not be willing or able to meet rigid demands of long hours and "marriage" to the job.
My opinion is that it is based on the "nature vs nuture" perceptions of differences between men and women, although every situation is different.

To add to the comments above: Female executive careers whether it is in finance, accounting etc can often by shaped by workplace structures.
There is still work to be done on improving women's employment rights so that they get more benefits.
Of note, many young women have been employed and increased mobility is due in part to challenges overcome by women employed before them.
However, it seems that as women have experienced more freedom in pursuing finance, management and executive careers, their career paths have become less flexible.
Having worked with women in the Middle East with women who have reached higher management levels or the highest position in their chosen professions, they would rather have attention focussed on their work and achievement than their gender.
To see these types of achievements in the Middle East as well as the rest of the world represents important changes which are slowly allowing women to make more career choices in fields where they would like to work.

It is not ability but natural factors and softness attached to females that stopsthrm for such demanding jobs.

In our team of independant finance dept heads of stand alone companies, we have several females heading the function reporting to CFO ( Me). The male female ratio is definitely more than that of our total manpower in each compnay. 

One primary reason is that our working hours are restricted to official office hours only - for males and females - uncless some exceptional circumstances arise.

In organisations who work long extra hours as a matter of habit / culture ( bad habits, in my personal opinion), expereinced older woman have difficulties as they have also to manage home and children apart from office job. I think that is the prime reason why many women shun any fucntion, not only finance, if the hours are too long to handle.

Well, I am a woman and a Finance Manager.

Sharpness of mind, attention to detail, expertise and efficiency is not gender oriented that only men possess and women do not.

Such thought processes are nurtured by handicapped minds and unfortunately when such people reach deciding positions in companies you will find many instances of gender inequalities that they will influence.

In my opinion I do agree to other Specialists & Experts for  such ANSWER because Finance is a most demanding phenomenon presently in the Whole World after the Formation of CURRENCIES all over the World.I do not think is there any country without any CURRENCY

On the other hand Women are always considered as SYMBOL of MOTHERHOOD so in Financial Matters woman lacking its job sentimentally also.

Women are fit for some Caring& Counselling Jobs as some rightly said as DOCTORS or TEACHERS or PROFESSORS or SCIENTISTS or SOCIAL WORKERS which is Helpful for maintaining Law and Oder in the Society.

Fighters in the world are also born by the Caring & Counselling of Mothers too If I am not wrong.

Women leaders bring diversity of thought and approach which helps to embrace new ways of working Read more at:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/53371595.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst