The Implications of Lifestyle Preference on a Public Accounting Career: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This article examines the Lifestyle Preferences, initial attitudes towards the work environment, and the effects of Lifestyle Preference on thoughts concerning a career in public accounting for a group of 253 newly-hired juniors (133 males and 120 females). Forty percent of the newly-hired females preferred a lifestyle that meant they would leave public accounting and not return until their youngest child was in school (i.e., at least seven-to-eight years for a two-to-three-child family). Nearly all of the females who intend to have both a family and a long-term career preferred to start their family by age 30 (i.e., before being promoted to senior manager). The data show that about 64 percent of the females, who intended to leave public accounting and not return until their youngest child was in school, would depart at or before the promotion point for manager.

JEL Classification: M40, M49, J44