MOVE’s latest project explores why even high-performing professionals are quietly exiting—and how firms can stop the leak. 

Know-How Korner

With Amy L. Welch, APR, CAE

Center for Accounting Transformation

The accounting profession stands at a crossroads. Despite a steady influx of women into the field, their advancement into leadership continues to lag. Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, managing director of the Accounting MOVE Project, is sounding the alarm—and offering data-driven solutions. 

Now in its 15th year, the MOVE Project studies how firms support, advance, and retain women and underrepresented professionals. On a recent episode of Know-How Korner with host Amy Welch, APR, CAE, Ruszczyk describes the project’s long-standing foundation—Money, Opportunity, Vital Supports, and Entrepreneurship—and how these pillars remain critical in today’s evolving landscape. 

“Women make up about 50% of the profession, but leadership still hovers at 25 to 28%,” Ruszczyk says. “And most of the drop-off happens right around the director level.”