When it's not all dinner reservations at Dorsia; The women of accounting and finance

On a temperate Thursday evening in the early days of October, I sat down with my laptop to indulge in the Women in Accounting and Finance Global Summit hosted by The School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) and PwC.  We joined a video call with SAF alumni Siddhi Purohi t, Joanne Gutwinski , Shana Laurie de Hernandez , Michelle Lam, Christine Wiedman, Elaine Lee , and Betty Ann Jarrett from PwC, as they all spoke about their careers and how they have been affected by the ongoing pandemic - in both their personal and professional lives. They all had their own experiences in managing a team in a total virtual work-from-home setting, and as they shared these anecdotes, they also spoke on their stories and how they got to where they are today.

Michelle Lam particularly piqued my interest; with her AFM degree she founded and ran her own lingerie line, True & Co, which, to me, is not something I would have imagined one would do with a degree in accounting and finance - but hey, why not! From Harvard Business School to being Chair of the Board of PwC Europe, the alumni truly took their careers into their own hands and did whatever they wanted to; wherein I can see even more benefits to a degree in accounting and finance. The world is truly your oyster.

I think it’s extremely beneficial and inspiring to be able to hear the stories of these women who attended the same university as I am currently, and am grateful I participated in the meeting and unlearn all I thought I knew about the accounting and finance world. It’s true; after consuming movies like American Psycho and The Wolf of Wall Street, I thought this was a man’s world, which is why it is so extremely important to hold and attend these events, if not for people like me who have preconceived notions about accounting and finance, then for the women pursuing an AFM degree right now. It is necessary to raise the voices of women in a mostly male dominated workforce to fight inequality, advocate for representation, and hopefully inspire more women to dip their toes into accounting and finance.