Gender Equality

Gender equality

To celebrate International Woman’s Day 2025, Daniella Di Marco spoke to Melanie Proffitt about how ACCA is connecting its newly elected all-female Council leadership team with future members

Daniella: Melanie, what motivated you to pursue a career accountancy?

Melanie: Well, with a surname like Proffitt there was a little amount of nominative determination there! Maths was my strongest subject in school – I had an amazing maths teacher that inspired me to do the best I can. I’ve always loved solving problems and puzzles and who doesn’t like a good jigsaw? I feel like that’s what we do – we pull all the pieces together and create a picture for the organisation.

Daniella: What would you say the key milestones in your career have been and how did you navigate them?

Melanie: The first one was becoming an ACCA member. When you reflect on your career, some of the really nice milestones are when you see people like yourself grow and develop, so I feel like I’m leaving a little trail of Daniellas behind me! I’m trying to inspire people to go on my journey, become ACCA members, silence that inner critic and take on the bigger challenges. Because we’ve got just as much capability as the men in the world – and you can see that rising when you look at the statistics in terms of getting representation.

Daniella: Have you noticed many changes throughout the years? If so what are they?

Melanie: There’s been a lot going on in UK legislation – we’ve got gender pay reporting. That doesn’t mean to say we’ve solved the problem! But at least we’re starting to report on it and look at it. I do think the pandemic had a part to play in accelerating flexible working – the ability to work different hours and work from home. And we’ve seen things like parental leave being shared between couples, so I think we’ve seen a lot of changes but there’s still a lot to do. But talking about it on International Women’s Day is the start – shining a light on metrics of what organisations are doing.

Daniella: What specific actions do you think are needed to accelerate gender equality within the workplace?

Melanie: I think it’s a bit of mindset really. Businesses need to really look at their own internal policies and the way that they work. There are so many different things around training people, but equally in recruitment – like bias, unconscious bias, blind recruiting where you don’t see the name of the individual. There are lots of things that businesses can do to try to encourage that. We definitely have equal pay – that is a legal requirement in the UK in terms of job roles. We shouldn’t be looking necessarily to legislation and government requirements. I think it should come from businesses.

It's good to call out the consumer in this, too. Businesses will be sustainable and will thrive if they adopt these sorts of more ethical, inclusive policies and procedures and values and live by them. Lots of positive changes but lots to do – we’re going in the right direction!

Melanie: So Daniella, what does the future hold for you? What does your career path look like and how are you going to get there?

Daniella: First, passing my ACCA exams! Now that I’ve started with ACCA I’ve moved job roles, moved from practice to industry and I’m excited. I feel that nothing’s holding me back, nothing is stopping me – and I’ve got a great role model! ACCA is a wellknown qualification, and I could go anywhere. Melanie: What I always say to students starting out is remain curious. Keep asking why. Keep wanting to understand more and learn more.

• #IWD was celebrated on Saturday 8 March 2025

Watch the international conversation as Ayla Majid, Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan and Melanie engage in meaningful discussions with Saman, Sharifah and Daniella, future members from Pakistan, Malaysia and the UK respectively.