Accounting for (in)visibilities: resistance, gender and control

This paper explores the themes of resistance, gender and control as both visible and invisible constructs in accountancy. Through the use of oral history as method, the experiences of three ethnic women accountants are documented. The central concern of this paper is to provide empirical material relevant to the study of women in accountancy, and in particular to give visibility to the experience of minority ethnic women accountants using an oral history approach. We use the term ‘ethnic women’ to indicate women from minority ethnic communities in Britain. The three oral histories indicate the presence of various forms of resistance, gender and control which appear to operate through a variety of invisible and visible forms in the structured work and workplace of accountancy. This paper presents a number of snap shots in the lives of three ethnic women accountants who work in different accounting environments. These experiences unfold through the deliberate limited use of theoretical frameworks. Our intention here is to present these experiences as ‘raw’ and ‘uncut’ as we possibly can in order to allow the experiences to speak for themselves. Despite our presence as researchers and authors in this text being omnipresent, we hope that our intervention to structure and re-construct the narratives for the reader is kept to a minimum.