Investigating the Effect of Female Auditors’ Glass Ceiling Beliefs on Tenure Intentions: The Mediating Variable Role of Psychological Empowerment

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Jahrom University, Jahrom, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Accounting, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Empirical evidence suggests the existence of a glass ceiling in the accounting profession. Glass ceiling beliefs in women have important effects on career outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. That is, to the extent that women believe that there is a glass ceiling, their commitment to the workplace diminishes and they lose their motivation to upgrade their empowerment, which can lead to turnover intentions (Cohen et al., 2020). Glass ceiling beliefs can be so strong that women leave the institution even before they hit the glass ceiling (Lupu, 2012). However, leaving the organization is one of the most costly events that occur in auditing firms and makes the firm incur high tangible and intangible costs (Ganji and Arab Mazar Yazdi, 2021).
Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of female auditors’ glass ceiling beliefs on turnover intentions by considering the mediating role of psychological empowerment.
 
 Research Hypotheses
In this research, based on the theoretical foundations and previous research, the following hypotheses are presented:
H1: Denial has a positive and significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors.
H2: Resilience has a positive and significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors.
H3: Resignation has a negative and significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors.
H4: Acceptance has a negative and significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors.
H5: Psychological empowerment of female auditors has a negative and significant effect on tenure intentions.
H6: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between denial and tenure intentions.
H7: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between resilience and tenure intentions.
H8: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between resignation and tenure intentions.
H 9: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between acceptance and tenure intentions.
 
 Methods
A structured questionnaire was used to gather the data for this study. The statistical population of the study consists of female auditors working in member institutions of the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants (IACPA). Out of the more than 400 online questionnaires that were sent out, 116 usable responses were returned.
The questionnaire contained two sections. Section A consisted of questions to gain demographic information about the respondents, such as organizational position, work experience, marital status, and age. Section B contained questions related to glass ceiling beliefs, psychological empowerment, and tenure intentions. In order to measure the constructs of denial, resilience, resignation, and acceptance, which are considered as components of glass ceiling beliefs, Smith et al.'s Career Path Survey (2012) was used. Tenure intentions were measured by four items that were adapted from Dalton et al. (2014) and Gim and Ramayah (2020). Finally, psychological empowerment was measured using a six-item questionnaire adopted from Spritzer (1995). In this study, hypotheses testing was conducted by using SmartPLS 3.
 Results
This study evaluated the structural model by examining the significance of path coefficients, effect size ( ), coefficient of determination ( ), and variance inflation factor (VIF). It was found H1 was supported, indicating that denial maintains a positive and significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors (b= 0.230, t= 2.219, p= 0.027,  0.042). Resilience also has a significant positive influence on the psychological empowerment of female auditors (b= 0.256, t= 2.337, p= 0.020,  0.070), thus H2 was supported. The results revealed that resignation has no significant effect on the psychological empowerment of female auditors (b= -0.134, t= 1.136, p= 0.256,  0.014), indicating no support for H3. As for H4, in which it was hypothesized that acceptance would have a negative influence on the psychological empowerment of female auditors, the results showed a significant and negative relationship (b = -0.247, t = 2.279, p= 0.023,  0.076). Therefore, H4 was supported. In regards to H5, in which it was hypothesized that psychological empowerment would negatively influence tenure intention, the results also supported this relationship (b= -0.465, t= 5.324, p= 0.000,  0.276).
Also, this study examined the mediating effects of psychological empowerment on the relationships between the four elements of the glass ceiling beliefs and turnover intentions. The findings reveal that there is an indirect mediation (full mediation) effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between denial (b = -0.107, t = 2.065, p= 0.039) and turnover intentions. Therefore, H6 was supported. There is an indirect mediation effect on the relationship between the resilience (b = -0.119, t = 1.964, p= 0.050) and turnover intentions, thus H7 was supported. The results of testing the eighth and ninth hypotheses indicate that constructs of resignation (b = 0.062, t = 1.189, p= 0.235) and acceptance (b = 0.115, t = 1.757, p= 0.080) due to psychological empowerment do not have a significant effect on turnover intentions. Thus, H8 and H9 were not supported.
 
 Discussion and Conclusion
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of female auditors' glass ceiling beliefs on turnover intentions by considering the mediating variable role of psychological empowerment. In order to achieve this goal, nine hypotheses were proposed. The results of testing the hypotheses indicate the positive and significant effect of denial and resilience and the negative and significant effect of acceptance on the psychological empowerment of female auditors. The results also show that the constructs of denial and resilience through the construct of psychological empowerment have an effect on the turnover intentions, but the indirect effect of resignation and acceptance on the turnover intentions is not significant.
The results of this study indicate that part of the higher tendency of female auditors to leave auditing firms than male auditors can be attributed to the beliefs of the glass ceiling. The results of this study show that it is important to pay attention to the beliefs of glass ceiling and create solutions to reduce these beliefs in order to optimally manage human resources.
 
Keywords: Glass Ceiling Beliefs, Psychological Empowerment, Turnover Intentions, Female Auditors.
 
 
 

Keywords

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History

  • Receive Date: 21 January 2022
  • Revise Date: 12 March 2022
  • Accept Date: 12 March 2022

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