Stephanie Henshaw, partner and head of audit at PKF Francis Clark, gives a shocking and amusing insight into how being an auditor back in the 1980s to today’s world of work is simply unrecognisable, in celebration of International Women’s Day
With retirement from the partnership of PKF Francis Clark imminent, I’ve been looking back over my 40-year career in accountancy and reflecting on some of the changes for women in that time.
Last week, I completed dignity at work training. That concept didn’t exist back in the mid-1980s, when workplaces were male-dominated and could be challenging for young women.
I remember being wolf-whistled by mechanics in workshops and the ubiquitous ‘girlie’ calendars that adorned office walls when going to do audits.
Then there was the financial controller who stood far too close behind my chair and put his hands on my shoulders. I reported it to my male manager, who instructed ‘the boys’ on our audit team never to leave one of ‘the girls’ alone at the client’s premises, which was somewhat reassuring, but no one spoke to the offender.
On one
