CBOK - Women in Internal Auditing

The Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA’s) 2015 Global Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) Practitioner Survey reveals that women make up a large portion of the internal audit profession around the world; however, women still face considerable challenges as they navigate through their careers in internal auditing. This report has two goals:

1. To describe how women currently fit into the internal audit landscape around the world, based on results from the 2015 CBOK Practitioner Survey
2. To share perspectives and advice for achieving success as a woman in the internal auditing profession, using interviews and roundtable discussions conducted with chief audit executives (CAEs) from around the world

The 2015 CBOK survey revealed several important differences between men and women in internal auditing that may tend to influence career success. On average, women self-assessed themselves lower in all 10 of the core competencies defined in The IIA’s Global Internal Audit Competency Framework, especially early in their careers. Female participants were also less likely than men to diversify their expertise, either through formal education or through attainment of professional certifications. There were also notable differences in the tools used by male and female CAEs to assess internal audit quality. Men and women were equally likely to report having a well-defined quality assurance and improvement program (QAIP); but on average, the men were significantly more likely to report the use of balanced scorecards, surveys of
audit clients, and peer reviews to assess the quality of their internal audit functions. Especially at larger organizations, the CBOK survey data indicates that top management positions in internal auditing are more often held by men than by women. But while there is a distinct “gender gap” in internal auditing, that gap seems to be narrowing. On average, the women who participated in the survey held lower-level positions than the men, but they were also generally younger than their male counterparts. This suggests that as the relatively younger female workforce ages, the number of women moving into senior positions in internal auditing may increase.