How important is an employee structure with mixed genders in an accounting firm? : Comparing two different accounting firms in two different countries.

Abstract: Purpose:            The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of having an employee structure with mixed genders in an accounting firm.  This study answers the following questions: ·        How important is an employee structure with mixed genders in an accounting firm? ·        What are the differences in the employee structure of a Gibraltarian and a Swedish accounting firm?                                                 The roles of the genders in an organisation are becoming more and more important in today’s society. This is why I have studied this subject for my Master thesis and I think it can be interesting for the companies today to become more aware of the importance of mixed gender’s.   Method: To be able to complete my study I have collected data from questionnaires and interviews in the relevant companies and I have also looked for information in books and on the Internet. After gathering the information I analyzed it according to the theories, which are presented in the theory chapter. This study was presented to an opinion group from Högskolan i Gävle from abroad.     Result& Conclusion:        The importance of mixed genders is to be able to run the company as successfully as possible with the means necessary looking from both a feminine and a masculine perspective in a highly competitive market.                           I believe that PwC has succeeded with having a good working environment because they have mixed genders in the company. All the theories prove that mixing genders is important and I believe it is the reason that Sweden has a law about it and also is the reason why PwC have a policy for quota of genders.   Suggestions/future studies: For future studies it would be interesting if more accounting companies from a greater selection of countries could be compared. This comparison would be interesting if it was between a country with similar culture or even with the extreme opposites. It would also be interesting to compare the different PwC branches within Sweden to see if the policy for quota of genders varies in different parts of Sweden. Another suggestion to further studies would be to see if there is a link between masculine cultured countries having less female managers than feminine cultured countries.   The studies contribution: My study and the suggested future studies can be used to improve the working environment and outcome for company’s which do not already have a quota policy for genders.