In this essay, I explore the usefulness of gender, in examining sustainability concerns
about the future of the accounting academy. In doing so, I differentiate between gender as
a biological variable and gender as a concept. Gender as a variable focuses our attention on
demographic issues such as numbers of women. Gender as a concept directs our attention
toward the institutional framework within which accounting academics (men and
women) currently operate. Rather than assuming that increasing numbers of women can
fundamentally change the academy, gender as a concept allows us to explore the overemphasis
upon the masculine in the gendering of the good academic accountant. This
imbalance unduly limits the openness of the academy including its intellectual
heterogeneity and the sorts of values that are promoted within it.