Theresa Ahlstrom Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Natalie Harding, March 23, 2017.
A. This interview was conducted over the phone and I recorded it on my laptop using QuickTime Player. This interview required no edits. I recorded this phone call when my roommates were gone so that there would be no distractions or interruptions. The only issues I encountered was that during some parts it is hard to hear my interviewee because it was recorded over the phone. I also found that it was a little hard for me to do the interview because I was interviewing my aunt and didn’t want to come off as too serious or unfriendly.
B. Theresa Ahlstrom is my aunt. She is my mom’s older sister. She was born in Brooklyn, New York and currently lives on Long Island. She is a partner for the accounting firm KPMG. She began at the company as an intern during her college years and climbed up to become the first female partner at the Long Island branch in her early 30’s. She is still working for KPMG.
C. Throughout history women have made incredible strides in the workforce. Beginning with the turn of the twentieth century when females made up around a quarter of the industrial workforce. Once World War II began many women were needed in the workforce to compensate for the men gone fighting, they were recruited to make war products. However, women are still not treated equally as men in the professional world. In 2015, it was reported on average that women made .80 for ever dollar a man made. This is a 20% wage gap for the same full-time job. With more and more women entering the business world, the gap is expected to even out and women will gain more respect.
Miller, Kevin. “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2017).” AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. The American Association of University Women, 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
Farmer, Ashley. “The Clayman Institute for Gender Research.” A Historical View of the American Workplace. The Clayman Institute for Gender Research, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
D. For this transcription I used [NH:] for myself and [TA:] for my aunt.
NH: Okay, so, can you first start off by giving your name and what your job title is currently?
TA: Theresa Ahlstrom and I am currently a partner at KPMG.
NH: Okay. And where did you go to college?
TA: St. John’s University in Queens, New York.
NH: And what year did you graduate and what was your major?
TA: I graduated in 1983 with a BS degree in accounting.
NH: Okay. And can you just talk a little bit about um or describe your work experience after college, like where you started working and at what level?
TA: Sure. So I actually had the good fortune of getting an internship with, um, the firm that I am still with, after 35 years. And I worked in the national office of the firm, which at the time was called Peat Marwick Mitchell, which at the time was one of the big eight accounting firms and now we’re down to the big four. And I started out as an intern in the national office and I worked, um, you know part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer between my junior and senior year. And when I graduated I joined the Long Island office of the firm and I was an assistant accountant in the firm’s audit practice where we audit the financial statements of privately held and publicly held companies.
NH: Oh. I didn’t realize that you were at that company since you were in college?
TA: Yes. I..yes, so at the time I was, 21 years old, no 20 years old. So, next month is 35 years I have been at that firm.
NH: Oh wow, that’s cool. Um, so when you first started at KPMG do you remember what percentage, or maybe it was 100%, of the partners were men?
TA: Oh gosh, um you know I don’t remember exactly Natalie, but I think it was a very very small percentage [of women]. As a matter of fact, when I was going to school for accounting at St. John’s, and St. John’s always had a very large business school and very large accounting program, I was one of a handful of girls in my accounting classes. And, actually when I was hired as the, um, you know to go on the audit staff of the firm in the Long Island office they had hired 25 first year assistant accountants and there were five women.
NH: Oh, wow.
TA: And it was all the talk, they couldn’t believe how many women were hired. Five out of 25, that was a significant change and I would say within probably five years, five to seven years, from when I started on the professional staff in 1983, um, that changed drastically. More and more women were going into the accounting program it was probably, you know, by the early 90’s we were hiring 50% women.
NH: Oh, okay.
TA: Still do today, we still do today. Today, our partnership is, I believe it is around about 25% women partners and we are trying to grow that percentage.
NH: Okay, that’s at, yeah I was gonna ask overtime like compared to now has it definitely changed more and more women are working there?
TA: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, more and more women are partners in other leadership positions. As a matter of fact, the current chairman and CEO of the firm is a woman.
NH: Oh, wow okay.
TA: And she is the first woman who was the chairman and CEO of a big four accounting firm. So we are very, we’re very proud of that.
NH: [Laughing] Yeah, so when you..
TA: So.
NH: No, sorry go ahead.
TA: No, no go ahead.
NH: [Laughing] Okay, I was just gonna ask like when you first started working there were you intimidated or were other people because there were less women?
TA: Um, I wasn’t intimidated. I, um, I don’t know I was just always a hard worker and I just thought, okay I’m just going to do my job and you know the rest will take care of itself. Um, and you know frankly I remember, I was probably at the firm for eight years or so, I was a senior manager at that time and then I remember one of the partners telling me that some of my male colleagues at the same level were competing with me. I never really even noticed it, right, I just did my work and that’s it. You know the…I will tell you the first time I felt that maybe it was a little big different or a little bit harder for a woman is when I made partner very young, I was only 31 years old when I became a partner, and you know, I was the first woman partner in any large accounting firm…first female partner in any large accounting firm on Long Island. So, when you walk into a client and it’s a young woman being introduced as a partner, the older executives, male executives of companies they… you know you almost have to prove yourself Natalie.
NH: Mhm, yeah.
TA: Right, where if a man were to walk in there he would just automatically be accepted, right?
NH: Yeah.
TA: Because that was the norm. But, you know, there were a couple of times where I could sense that from the client. But, I just never spent time focusing on it and I thought well you know what I’m just going to do my job and in no time I was able to develop good relationships and they respected me because they knew that I was qualified. But, it was definitely in some older, um, some older gentlemen that you know were CFO’s or COO’s or CEO’s. There were like “who is this young girl?” Right? So, you know and “how could she be the partner on my account?”
NH: Um, so going along with that do you have any specific stories of a time where you ever faced an obstacle or kinda like discrimination?
TA: Oh, gosh um. You know Natalie, I don’t. I get asked that question a lot and I will tell you I feel incredible fortunate that I don’t have a situation that I can share where I felt like I was being discriminated against because of my gender.
NH: Mhm.
TA: You know, I do know, I probably entered the profession at a good time. Like, where more and more women were entering. I have been very fortunate to work for a firm that was very supportive. Um, so, again other than the first couple of encounters with male clients, I have never experienced, um, discrimination or intimidation. As a matter of fact, I in many ways, I think I was given even more opportunities because I was a woman. Um, because the firm historically and continues to this day is so passionate about, um, diversity and developing women and other minority leaders.
NH: Mhm.
TA: Such that, um, you know. Now, in no way did I feel that I was less qualified than my male counterparts and I know the firm would not give me a responsibility or promotion just because I am a woman, but I was fortunate to and continue to work for a firm that really supports the development of women leaders. So, I don’t have a story to share.
NH: [Laughing]
TA: So, I interact with a lot of women executives at other large companies and large organizations. And so many of them, and these are very accomplished women, so many of them say “wow, I wish my company, or I wish my organization was like your firm.”
NH: Oh, wow.
TA: And, all that they do to mentor young women coming into the profession and really to just support women’s leadership.
E. Overall, I think that this interview went well. I think I was a little too cautious because I didn’t want my aunt to feel uncomfortable or like I was being too cold. At the end I also just awkwardly ended the interview and then spoke to her on the phone saying that I stopped recording, because I didn’t want her to think the phone call was over. There is nothing really that I would do differently. I feel like it did flow. For me, it was more difficult when I went “off script,” because I felt more pressure knowing I was recording the whole phone call. I think that the divergences were positive, because I really have never talked to my aunt about this subject so it was a learning experience for me.