Fighting fraud and achieving success

From the ACFE’s majority-woman 2022-2023 Board of Regents to the nearly 35,000 female ACFE members fighting fraud around the world, and the many women who are expert investigators educating others on fraud examination, women are playing front-and-center roles in the anti-fraud field. With women figuring so prominently in the field, I wanted to know what everyday female fraud fighters think about their place in our profession.

I contacted longtime colleagues — both male and female — and fraud examiners who participate in the ACFE’s “Women in the Anti-Fraud Profession” online forum for their views. Their perspectives were diverse, and while my colleagues related several horror stories about gender discrimination — including sexual harassment — there were many more stories of triumph.

The current state

My female colleagues were often positive even when they reflected on challenges they’ve faced, such as suspects leaping over tables to attack them during interviews. (Of course, you can never be sure if those suspects would’ve attacked a male interviewer under the same circumstances.) Tania Ramirez, CFE, who is an ACFE Advisory Council member, said there were times when she felt uncomfortable, intimidated and even threatened by interviewees, but she generally feels good about her profession.

“Overall, I can sincerely say that my experiences as a fraud fighter have been great in so many ways,” says Ramirez. “Over the years, I have learned to think like a fraudster, identify patterns and learn about human behavior … My mandates have been challenging and exciting, and some have been quite memorable. I have had some not so good experiences … [but] the anti-fraud profession requires individuals who are resilient and tenacious.”

Bethmara Kessler, CFE, a speaker, lecturer and consultant, says the anti-fraud field is no different than other professions. Women have made great progress, but there’s still more to accomplish. “The state of women in the anti-fraud profession is a microcosm of women in the workforce more broadly,” Kessler says. “Although many strides have been made over time, there are still many challenges in equity, such as pay and opportunity. The women who I have seen successfully bust through barriers have demonstrated persistence, resilience and a willingness to go the extra miles for success. They are charismatic, high-impact leaders that use their voice to ensure equal seating at the table.”

Tiffany Couch, CFE, founder and CEO of Acuity Forensics, discussed her experiences before starting her own firm. “I have never felt that I couldn’t break the glass ceiling,” she says. “While I have had incidents of derogatory or rude comments, I have never once felt we live in a sexist society. I chalked those comments up to those individuals because it did not reflect what society reflected back to me.”

The women who reported being most satisfied with their careers started their own firms, such as Couch and Janet McHard, CFE. Some hit a glass ceiling or felt they weren’t progressing as quickly as their male counterparts, and others simply wanted to run their own organizations.

“I founded The McHard Firm, and we’re an all-female owner group. I founded it in part to avoid what I saw as a glass ceiling in other organizations. It worked,” says McHard, who is also my business partner. (See “Further reading” to learn more about starting your own firm.)

The anti-fraud field is no different than other professions. Women have made great progress, but there’s still more to accomplish.

Closing the gap

According to the 2020 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals, the median pay for men was just over 9% higher than women’s, down from the 13% gap reported in the 2018 survey. In 2020, the median salary for men was $100,000, and $91,000 for women. There was almost no gap at the lowest salary levels; however, those earning the most had the widest gap in pay at 19%. Top salaries for men were $150,000, and $122,000 for women. Both male and female CFEs earned more than their non-CFE counterparts, but the pay gap tracked consistently by gender, with or without the CFE credential. (See 2020 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals, ACFE.)

ACFE Regent Chrysti Ziegler, CFE, general auditor for CITGO Petroleum Corporation, discussed an encounter with the gender pay gap at one of her former jobs. “I have only experienced one instance in my career where my starting pay was less than a male subordinate,” she says.

“Could that be chalked up to the years of experience he had over me? Perhaps, but it didn’t seem fair that he was a subordinate, and I was his supervisor. But the problem corrected itself over time.”

Interestingly, some of my colleagues attributed gender pay disparities to personal choices. Some said women might be uncomfortable negotiating for higher salaries, or they accepted a position for which they’re overqualified as they supported a partner’s career. And research suggests that women who juggle career and family receive a “child penalty” on their earnings. (See “Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark,” by Henrik Kleven, Camille Landais and Jakob Sogaard, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018.)

However, the gender pay gap among anti-fraud professionals is lower than among workers generally in the U.S., which hovers around 20%. Globally, men make 23% more than women. New Zealand has one of the narrowest gender wage gaps in the world at 4.6%, while South Korea has the widest at 31.5%. (See “The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study,” by Katie Meara, Francesco Pastore and Allan Webster, Journal of Population Economics, January 2020; “International Equal Pay Day,” United Nations, 2021; and “Gender wage gap,” OECD.)

Tackling biases

Consider this classic riddle: A boy and his father are involved in an auto accident. The father dies, and the boy is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. The surgeon enters the operating theater, looks down at the child and says, “I can’t operate on this child; he is my son.” The child’s father died, so how is this possible? (We’ll come back to this.)

The pay gap is real, but closing it is hard considering the unconscious biases often involved in decision-making. How can people address something they’re oblivious to? Take the influential study of a symphony where musicians auditioning for a job played behind a curtain to obscure their identity. When the judges were unaware of the auditioner’s gender, women and men faired equally well. But when judges were alerted to gender cues, such as the clicking sound of high heels across the stage, they would rate that person’s performance lower and rate men’s performances as superior. (See “Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of ‘Blind’ Auditions on Female Musicians,” by Claudia Goldin and Celia Rouse, American Economic Review, Vol. 90, September 2000.) Thus, even when people try to level the playing field, subtle clues can still affect judgment.

“The broader question seems to be whether one’s pathway is impacted, positively or negatively, by gender and separately, how the profession is therefore perceived,” says Cheryl Hyder, CFE, principal of Hyder Consulting Group. “Ideally, I would prefer gender to be a neutral factor in anyone’s career; I may be an idealist and even overly optimistic, but I’m not naïve.”

And women weren’t the only ones who noticed gender discrimination. Some of my male colleagues observed pay inequalities in their organizations and took action to correct them, such as proposing equal pay for women.

Generally, my colleagues agree women have come a long way in the anti-fraud profession, but there is still room for improvement. While older generations of women might have experienced blatant gender discrimination, younger generations of women have been raised with fewer barriers to crush, and many expect to see women and people of color in executive positions. Some might avoid working for firms where diversity is not considered an important ethic. This is something anti-fraud employers should consider. Firms that don’t share the values of young applicants may lose out on the brightest candidates. (See “For younger job seekers, diversity and inclusion in the workplace aren’t preference. They’re a requirement,” by Jennifer Miller, The Washington Post, Business, Feb. 18, 2021.)

Now, the answer to our riddle: The surgeon is the child’s mother. You might’ve thought of that answer immediately considering this article’s subject; however, some might’ve concluded the child had two fathers, assuming the surgeon was a man. There’s no recrimination here, only something to think about as we question our own underlying assumptions about gender and continue making strides in the anti-fraud field. Truly, from the time I was a police officer in the 1980s, when there were few women in law enforcement, to my experiences over the years and to the present, I have seen tremendous gains towards equality. We still have a way to go, but we’re on our way.

Beth Mohr, CFE, PI, is the managing partner at The McHard firm. Contact her at bmohr@themchardfirm.com.

Further reading:

“Hanging out your shingle,” parts 1 and 2, by Janet M. McHard, CFE, and Beth Mohr, CFE, Fraud Magazine, July/August and September/October 2012.