In this article, we investigate gender differences in publication patterns and trajectories within accounting research using a sample of 18,246 articles published between 1996 and 2024. Our central finding highlights a fundamental paradox between representation and participation: while women authors are more strongly represented in critical-oriented and lower-ranked publication spaces, these same segments exhibit the largest gender disparities in cumulative research output. This demonstrates that higher numerical representation does not guarantee equal opportunities to accumulate publications, scholarly visibility, and long-term influence. Examining how these disparities vary across the stratified publication field, we show that the gender–output gap is smallest in mainstream and elite outlets and largest in lowerranked, mixed, and critical segments, suggesting that publication disparities are embedded within the stratified structure of accounting research itself. These findings contribute to the literature on gender inequalities by showing how gender disparities are reproduced through field stratification and cumulative processes that shape scholarly visibility, influence, and recognition in academia.