[Management] Alumna Suh Ji-hee, the First Female Vice President of an Accounting Firm
- Date2021.09.13
- 5371
Alumna Suh Ji-hee, the First Female Vice President of an Accounting Firm
Today’s Ewha DNA Interview is with alumna Suh Ji-hee (Business Administration, graduating class of 1985), who was promoted as the first female executive at one of the Big Four accounting companies in 2003 and recently became the first female vice president of an accounting firm. Alumna Suh Ji-hee tells us about continuing to pioneer a new path as the “first penguin” who isn’t afraid of a challenge.
Q. Please briefly introduce yourself.
I entered Ewha in 1981 as a Business Administration major before advancing to the graduate school, passing the second round of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Test in 1986 and graduating from graduate school (Financial Accounting) in February 1987. I was the second member of Ewha to pass the CPA Test and joined KPMG Korea as the first female accountant in the company. Since then, I have been working for KPMG Korea for over 30 years. Today, women account for around 30 percent of all successful candidates of the CPA Test, but at the time when I passed the test, there were only one or two successful female candidates per year. I suppose this makes us the first generation of female accountants in Korea’s accounting industry. In 2003, I became the first female executive at Samjong KPMG, which marked the first-ever appointment of a female employee as an executive at a top accounting firm, and I was recently promoted to serve as the first female vice president at the firm.
Q. Could you tell us about your work over the last 40 years and your most memorable project?
Overall management of audits, quality management, and training: Throughout my accounting career, I was in charge of audits for the first five years and quality management for the next 20 years after that. As I performed these tasks, I witnessed changes in the accounting market in the wake of the financial crisis in 1997 and the introduction of the internal accounting management system and international accounting standards. I’m proud to have witnessed such historic events for quality management in the accounting industry. Since 2016, I’ve been responsible for training to nurture professionals in accounting-related fields. I feel most rewarded when I’m helping others grow as the biggest assets of each organization.
Accounting industry modernization project: In 2008 when I was serving as the president of the Women Korea Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants began promoting the “The Top 10 Ways to Advance Accounting” project to further develop Korea’s accounting industry. What I remember the most from the time is when I participated in this project and proposed the top 10 tasks and suggestions for the advancement of the accounting industry in Korea. For this project, I had visited accountant associations in three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. During my visits, I was deeply impressed by the fact that various stakeholders recognized “accounting” as a key national industry and worked together in efforts related to the institutional mechanisms of regulatory authorities to ensure accounting transparency, CPA exam systems, training systems for accounting specialists, and roles of accountant associations. This project report was later utilized as a reference material for development of the Korean accounting industry.
Hosting and participating in CAPA Seoul 2015: The most memorable person I met at CAPA Seoul 2015 was President Olivia Kirtley from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). CAPA, or the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants, was held in Seoul in 2015. The event was particularly meaningful to me because I competed fiercely at the previous CAPA in Brisbane, Australia, for the right to hold the next event in Seoul. When I met President Olivia Kirtley at CAPA Seoul, I was surprised by the fact that the president of the International Federation of Accountants was a woman, and I was also deeply impressed by her boldness and courage. I remember feeling a sense of solidarity in many areas during interviews with female leaders who were participating in the event from all over the world, under the theme of “Changing the Game: Women in Business.”
Q. Could you share us your future vision as a woman leader?
Although the status of women leaders has risen gradually along with their capabilities, Korea ranks 118th out of 144 countries in terms of the “Gender Inequality Index” (published by the United Nations Development Programme) that measures women’s participation in economic activities and decision-making processes, and the proportion of women in senior management at companies constitutes only 4 percent, standing the lowest among the OECD member countries. As we usher in a period of renewed progress in recognition of these circumstances, I’d like to contribute to the well-rounded growth of excellent women employees within companies and enhance their inclusive leadership capabilities, thereby facilitating the sustainable growth of companies.
I’m currently serving as the president of Women in INnovation (WIN), which is a network of female executives in Korean companies, and through this network, I promote a systematic talent development program to foster middle managers at companies into next-generation leaders, and select “Top Companies for Gender Equality” out of the top 500 Korean companies. In addition, I was appointed as a non-executive vice president for the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants in July 2021 and one of my roles is to promote the rights and interests of women accountants and strengthen their capabilities. I’ll do my best to extend diversity and entrench an inclusive culture in the accounting industry.
It is often said that a critical mass of 30 percent is required to drive changes at a corporation or company. This means that substantive changes can be made when we ensure that at least one-third corporate leaders are women. Through these efforts, I would like to contribute to accelerating the achievement of critical mass at which Korean companies will become able to implement innovative changes through diversity.
Q. What is your idea of the Ewha DNA?
Challenge and passion: I think the Ewha DNA is a pioneer’s spirit that gives birth to “the first penguin” through daring and passion. Many unprecedented challenges in Korea were undertaken by Ewha. According to data collected by CEOSCORE on 2,149 listed companies in Korea to identify the alma mater of female executives, as of the end of March 2020, Ewha Womans University ranked top place with 26.9 percent, followed by Seoul National University (15 percent) and Yonsei University (8.2 percent). Given the fact that female executives at listed companies in Korea only account for four percent of all executives, this is proof that many Ewha members have taken on the challenge to become the first woman to rise to top positions in Korean companies across diverse sectors.