A fine education but no “bluestocking”: Harriett Amies, pioneer female accounting professional

Abstract

Harriett Amies (1907–2006) was the first female Bachelor of Commerce graduate of the University of Melbourne and the first female to qualify for membership of an accounting professional body in Victoria largely on the basis of tertiary qualifications. Her career encompassed teaching and accounting, as well as army service during World War II. In a last altruistic gesture, she donated her body to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Melbourne, coming full circle back to her alma mater. Her life and career spanned almost a century, one in which women went from almost no presence in the public arenas of universities and the professions, to almost equal representation in numbers of students and members. A narrative and interpretive approach to the life and career of Harriett Amies contributes to the literature on gender and accounting history, including the social construction of the accounting professional and women’s economic self-determination.