The Complex Hues of Entrepreneurial Identity Amongst Women Owning Accounting Firms

Abstract

Accounting firms in India are still largely male-dominated, and women are particularly under-represented in senior roles as partners, principals, and associates. However, there is a perceptible change with more and more women now pursuing an education in accountancy and aspiring to start off accounting firms of their own. In-depth interviews of women entrepreneurs running micro, small-sized and family-owned accounting firms in Chennai in south India reveal that women as entrepreneurs need to grapple with multiple identities in order to manage their business performance and family responsibilities. There seems to be a complex interplay of multiple identities including gender, caste, entrepreneurship orientation etc., with a new social identity emerging alongside the more traditional one.