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Women in business

A collection of books, articles and guides on topics of interest to women working in business and accountancy.

Online articles

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.

eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a collection of articles and books on women in leadership roles. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

Reports and surveys

2024

FTSE Women Leaders Review
Successor report to the Hampton-Alexander Review and the Davies Reviews. Reports on progress for women serving on boards, and for women in the two senior management layers below the board in 400 companies. Previous reports for 2022 and 2021 are also available.

Women in Work Index 2024: Closing the Gender Pay Gap for good
Annual update to PwC's Women in Work Index which combines key indicators of female economic empowerment into a single comparable index for 33 OECD countries.

2023

Women in business 2023: The push for parity
Annual report from Grant Thornton tracking the global progress of women in senior management.  It includes insights into how mid-market businesses can support women in business. Previous reports are also available including:

Women in the workplace 2023
Annual study by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org of women in corporate America. This latest report debunks four myths about women’s workplace experiences and career advancement and provides recommendations to companies for supporting women. Previous reports also available via the site.

2019

FTSE women leaders: Hampton-Alexander Review
The fourth report of the Hampton-Alexander Review assesses progress in adoption of the five key recommendations aimed at increasing the number of women in leadership positions of FTSE 350 companies that the original review published in 2016.

2018

FTSE women leaders: Hampton-Alexander Review
The third report of the Hampton-Alexander Review assesses progress in adoption of the five key recommendations aimed at increasing the number of women in leadership positions of FTSE 350 companies that the original review published in 2016.

2017

Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth
Women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017.

2016

Gender salary reporting
Brief guide from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to new legislation which requires large employers to measure and report on how they pay men and women from April 2017. Also includes results of the CMI and XpertHR's Gender Salary Survey 2016.

Women in Finance Charter
Details of HM Treasury's 'Women in Finance Charter' which asks financial services firms to commit to implementing 4 key industry actions to improve gender balance within the industry. Published in March 2016.

2015

Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth - Two years on
Follow-up report from the Women’s Business Council published in June 2015. Outlines further recommendations for changing business culture to better use the talents of girls and women as they participate in the workforce at every stage of their lives.

Organizational strategies: retaining and developing women leaders
Guide published by AICPA in 2015 to help accountancy firms develop and implement strategies that facilitate career progression for women.

2014

Maximising women's contribution to future economic growth: One year on
Follow-up report from the Women's Business Council published in June 2014. The report gives recommendations for businesses and policymakers, updated statistics on women's participation in the economy and a talent management checklist for employers.

2013

Maximising women's contribution to future economic growth
Report published by the Women's Business Council in June 2013 examining areas of work with the greatest potential economic benefit and providing recommendations with a clear economic case for action. 

2011

Unwritten rules: Why doing a good job might not be enough
This series from Catalyst provides access to reports and tools on how to learn, leverage and communicate an organisation's own unwritten rules which exist alongside formal talent management and performance review programmes. The research examines the impact of these unwritten rules and emphasises that those, often women, ‘who do not have the tools to access this maze of unwritten rules and the important knowledge these rules provide remain left out, no matter how competent they are’.

The gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women
This report was published in 2011 by Deloitte as the first in a series of reports aiming to examine successful models for investing in women. The report ‘lays out the rationale behind why governments and organisations must look to women as key to their economic growth’.

2010

Representation of women and men in business and government: Public attitudes and perceptions
Results of a survey published by the Government Equalities Office in March 2010. The aim of the survey was to explore public attitudes in the UK towards the representation of women and men in public institutions and in business.

2009

Inquiry into sex discrimination in the finance sector
Research report from the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission published in March 2009. The study surveys the pay, policies and practices of organisations within the financial services sector.

2007

Women of ICAS reaching the top: The demise of the glass ceiling
Research published in 2007 which evaluates the extent the glass ceiling remains a phenomenon for female Scottish chartered accountants.

Organisations and networks

Join the Women in Finance community

A community that provides networking and personal development opportunities to enable women in finance to achieve their potential and lead a career without limits.
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