Александра Егурнова - ESP - Accounting and Economics. TEACHER’S BOOK

She credits the #MeToo movement, through which many women have used social media to share their experiences of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for highlighting the issue.

«It’s started a conversation that should have been started a few years ago,» Treanor said.

In her career, Treanor said she can recall multiple occasions when she’s been talked over by male counterparts, or had an idea she came up with ignored or dismissed while the same idea was embraced when voiced by a male colleague.

«It’s scary how quickly women have become accustomed» to disparate treatment, Treanor said.

Skipped over early on

The gulf between male and female representation in CFO roles underscores the challenges women face in corporate workplaces, said Melissa Hooley, CPA, CGMA, the partner-in-charge of employee benefit plan services at Colorado accounting and consulting firm Anton Collins Mitchell.

«Just getting women into the pipeline isn’t enough,» said Hooley, chair of the AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee.

Women face setbacks early on in their careers, such as being passed over for promotions, that can be hard to rebound from, according to a 2017 report by McKinsey and Lean In, an organization founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to promote women’s standing in corporate America.

The study, which analyzed hiring and promotion practices of more than 200 large companies and surveyed 70,000 employees, found that women are getting passed over for key promotions early in their careers, and continue to be passed over for promotions at disproportionate rates compared with their male colleagues throughout their careers.

That results in fewer women in top jobs. Reversing the tide could help rectify the gender inequities, the report’s authors wrote.

«This gender disparity has a dramatic effect on the pipeline as a whole: If entry-level women were promoted at the same rate as their male peers, the number of women at the SVP and C-suite levels would more than double,» the report said.

Companies should closely examine why women aren’t getting more promotions and look at unintentional biases, Hooley said.

She said that women in the workplace tend to understate their abilities while men overstate theirs, one reason she suspects men are promoted at higher rates than women.

«Once people become more aware, I think that that’s where we’re going to make progress,» Hooley said.

Indeed, it is important to engage male leaders. Including men in conversations about diversity initiatives can help raise their awareness about the barriers faced by women and give them a voice in how an organization can implement advancement opportunities.

Support family policies

Companies that want to attract and retain talented women should strongly support associates as they go through life changes, such as becoming parents, Winston said.

Winston was in high-powered positions when both of her children were born and was initially worried if she’d face setbacks in her career by taking maternity leave.

Those fears were set aside when her boss pulled her aside toward the end of her pregnancy and told her she had nothing to worry about.

«Having someone say that to you shows there’s support in the organization,» she said.

Need for talent

One major challenge most companies are facing is finding talented leaders. And that problem is only going to get worse, Hooley said.

«There’s going to be an incredible shortage of talent in the next 10 to 15 years with Baby Boomers retiring,» she said.

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. What did Mary Winston look like?

A. Only a woman

B. Not white

C. Excellent professional

D. Very different from other people

2. How many women are in CFO positions in the U.S.?

A. Less than a fifth of the total number

B. More than a fifth of the total number

C. One third of the total number

D. One quarter of the total number

3. What often happened to an idea Eileen Treanor came up with?

A. It was welcome.

B. It was embraced.

C. It was talked over.

D. It was ignored.

4. What is the result of the unfair advancement opportunities?

A. fewer women in top jobs;

B. women understate their abilities;

C. men overstate their abilities;

D. unawareness of barriers faced by women.

5. If a company supports its associates, it wants to…

A. retrain them.

B. keep them.

C. attack them.

D. empower them.

6. Which companies will be at a disadvantage, according to the text?

A. Finding talented leaders.

B. Competing for talented leaders.

C. Not seriously considering women leaders.

D. Not hiring talented diverse leaders.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text to the words below. Correct answers are in bold in the same line with the word.

Administration (paragraph 1) – tenure

Variety (paragraph 4) – diversity

Top managers (paragraph 5) – C-suite

Brought down (paragraph 9) – felled

Key person (paragraph 10) – top talent

Underlining (paragraph 11) – highlighting

Remember (paragraph 13) – recall

Gap (paragraph 15) – gulf

Task 3. Decipher the following abbreviations and provide their proper translation into Russian:

CFO; U.S.; CPA; CGMA; AICPA; COO; SVP

Correct answers.

CFOstands for Chief Financial Officer. It is the officer of a company that has primary responsibility for managing the company’s finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financial reporting. (финансовый директор)

U.S.stands for the United States. It is a country. (Соединенные Штаты Америки)

CPAstands for Certified Public Accountant. It is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. (сертифицированный бухгалтер)

CGMAstands for Chartered Global Management Accountant. It is a professional management accounting designation issued beginning in January 2012. (сертифицированный международный специалист в области управленческого учета)

AICPAstands for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. It is the national professional organization of CPAs in the United States. (Американское общество дипломированных бухгалтеров)

COOstands for Chief Operating Officer, also called a Chief Operations Officer. It is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, comprising part of the «C-suite». (главный операционный директор, аналог исполнительного директора в России)