A practice of her own: Female career success beyond the accounting firm

This paper attempts to address the neglect of women practitioners in accounting history by examining the career of one of Scotland's first female chartered accountants, Helen Lowe. Rather than remaining within her training firm, Helen established her own accounting practice in 1928 which she ran for almost seventy years. In her firm's accounting ledgers and correspondence, a rare archive is available which captures the often absent voice of the female accountant practitioner. Helen's story illustrates the individual experience within the broader sweeping history of the early 20th century gender struggle in the accounting profession. It also suggests how female gender, often viewed as a negative characteristic to achieving career success within the discriminatory environment of the accounting firm, may act as a positive attribute in business more generally.