WOMEN TAKE BIG STRIDES AT BIG SIX

Women are climbing into the upper echelons of public accounting firms at a quickening pace. In the past two years, women became partners at Big Six firms at 10 times the rate of the previous two-year period. One hundred sixty-one women have been promoted to partner at Big Six firms since 1994, compared to only 14 between 1992 and 1994.

The results of "Women in Public Accounting--1996," an exclusive survey conducted by the Atlanta-based Public Accounting Report, show that women are making substantial, quantifiable progress in the top revenue-producing firms in the nation.

Women constitute 15% of new Big Six partners. Overall, 6.9% of Big Six partners are women.

At Deloitte & Touche, which aggressively publicizes its Initiative for the Advancement and Retention of Women, eight percent of partners (113 of 1,458) and 21 percent of new partners (22 of 106) are women. KPMG Peat Marwick is close behind, with an equal percentage of female partners (eight percent) and 18% of its new partnerships going to women.

Among regional firms, the highest percentage of female partners is found at Richard A. Eisner & Co./New York, where 15% (nine of 61) of its partners are female, and Plante & Moran, Southfield, Mich., where women represent 11% (12 of 112) of its partners and 33% (three of nine) of new partners. *

Public Accounting Report, a newsletter of the public accounting profession, is published by Strafford Publications, Inc., 590 Dutch Valley Road NE, P.O. Drawer 13729, Atlanta GA 30324-0729.