As the internal auditing (IA) profession continues to evolve and become more diverse, the advancement of women in IA has become a major focus. However, despite the progress made, a lot still needs to be done to address issues of underrepresentation and the gender gaps existing within the various roles across the IA profession.

The 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. Nevertheless, women are faced with considerable challenges as they circumnavigate through their careers in internal auditing. CBOK is the world’s most thorough and rolling study of the internal audit profession. It also analyses the makeup of the internal audit profession and incorporates the studies of internal audit practitioners and their stakeholders. During the 2015 CBOK survey, more than 5,400 women took part in roundtable discussions and responses to questionnaires. This represents 38% of total responses.