FINANCE professionals still believe sex discrimination to be rife in their offices, according to research.

A quarter of those interviewed by Robert Half Finance & Accounting, which has an office on the Windmill business estate, say there is a culture that hinders promotional opportunities for women within their organisation.

More than a third of women believe there is a glass ceiling when it comes to furthering their career in the field with 19 per cent of men agreeing.

In spite of this, it seems women are not being deterred from entering finance and, by sheer numbers, the tables could soon be turned.

Of those who answered the survey, 55 per cent were under the age of 35, compared to just 39 per cent of men, and twice as many men 25 per cent were over 45.

Tara Heath, branch manager of Robert Half Finance & Accounting's West Swindon branch, who helped compile the research, is confident that the discrimination will be broken.

She said: "There is no question that a glass ceiling does exist in some organisations, but the finance profession seems poised to break this tradition.

"While there are currently nearly three times as many male finance directors as female, I am confident that the influx of women we are seeing entering the profession is laying the foundation for a gradual balancing-out of the genders in senior roles over the next five to 10 years."

However Ian Lawrence, manager of accounting firm Lawrence Rose Limited of Hampton Drive in Grange Park, disputed the findings.

He said in his experience he had never witnessed discrimination in the workplace.

"I have never seen women treated any differently to men when it comes to salary or promotion," said Mr Lawrence.

But he did acknowledge that in some industries discrimination is rife and more needs to be done to combat it.

He said: "Things are changing for the better but women are still get a bad deal in other industries.

"Because they have time off to have families, they are often overlooked for promotion."

The findings also show average earnings across both sexes for accountants to be significantly less than the UK average.

While the average UK accountant expect to earn £41,160, his Swindon counterpart nets £38,340.

Kevin Shoesmith