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According to The GlassHammer , a website created for “women executives in finance, law, technology, and big business,” women public accountants don’t stay in the field for long. In a recent article , GlassHammer reports that many women successfully begin careers as accountants, but they leave after only a few years. And no one is sure why.

The article quotes Tammy Young, Moss Adams’ Managing Director of Human Resources. According to Young, one reason that women may not be enjoying as much success in accounting is due to lack of women leaders in the field, which means fewer networking connections, since leadership in accounting has been, historically speaking, almost all male.

Despite having the same education, interest, and experience initially, the attrition rate for women in accounting is inexplicably high. Jacqueline Akerblom, National Managing Partner for Women’s Initiatives and Programs at Grant Thorton, claims, ““I think the main reason they aren’t retained is because public accounting has an unspoken model of success…it’s one size fits all: a white male with a wife who supports him from home and takes care of all the domestic obligations. Women find it difficult—if not impossible—to model ourselves within that framework.”

While there has been lots of speculation as to why women don’t stick with accounting, the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA) teamed up to carry out the first comprehensive survey that seeks to find out definitive answers. The survey, called the MOVE Project, asked several top accounting firms to participate and ran from November 2009 until late January of this year. The survey results will be posted on both of the organizations’ websites later this spring. For more information about what the survey measured, visit this Wilson-Taylor, Inc. webpage .

If you are a woman accountant trying to make a name for yourself in your chosen line of work, there is no need to be discouraged if you aren’t moving up as quickly as you had envisioned. In a male-dominated field, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and be taken seriously. There are many resources online, specifically tailored for women that will help you manage and advance your career as an accountant. Here are just a few:

The American Society of Women Accountant’s resource page provides a variety of pamphlets that give insider tips about accounting.

The American Woman’s Society of Certifi ed Public A ccountants useful links page provides a host of helpful resources, like the Women for Hire website, which gives information about career fairs and recruiting specifically aimed at women.

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas , who writes on the topics of accredited online universities .  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: katherynrivas87@gmail.com .