Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Accounting
Stream Organizers
Olivia Kyriakidou, Athens University of Economics and Business,
okyriakidou@aueb.gr
Emmanouil Dedoulis, Athens University of Economics and Business,
ededoulis@aueb.gr
Orthodoxia Kyriacou, Middlesex University, o.kyriacou@mdx.ac.uk
Mustafa Ozbilgin, Brunel University, Univeristé Paris Dauphine,
mustafa.ozbilgin@brunel.ac.uk
Stream Description
Globally, the accounting sector remains predominantly white, male and able-bodied
and the gendered nature of accountancy profession is hardly surprising (Kornberger,
Carter, & Ross-Smith, 2010). This is despite a range of initiatives targeted directly at
addressing this (Anderson-Grough, Gray, & Robson, 2001) and early critical
contributions attesting to the gendered nature of accounting firms (Anderson-Gough,
Grey, & Robson, 2005; Fogarty, Parker, & Robinson, 1998; Wooten, 2001).
Nonetheless, the topic of gender relations in accountancy firms remains an underresearched area (Anderson-Gough et al., 2005; Czarniawska, 2008; Kornberger et al.,
2010). Moreover, from a business perspective, this means that the industry, which is
still facing skills-shortages in spite of the global financial crisis, is failing to attract
and retain highly skilled employees from the breadth of the population. From an
ethical perspective the accounting sector has disregarded the ideal of social justice,
equality and inclusivity for all.
AICPA and American accounting journals regularly report statistics on the gender and
ethnic demographics of accounting professionals. For example, the Public Accounting
Report reported that 16.9% of the equity partners in the largest accounting firms in the
USA were women, representing an increase of .7% over 2007. Moreover, the
available public statistics indicate that even though women comprise more than half
of the accounting major graduates in the United States and receive entry-level
accounting jobs in approximately equal numbers to men (Wallace, 2009), yet women
comprise just 10 percent of all accounting firms within the U.S. and only 6.9 percent
of national accounting firm partners (Scheuermann & Finch, 1998). Even in areas of
the accounting sector that have higher rates of gender representation, the evidence
suggests that women accountants are often treated poorly and face numerous cultural
and structural barriers (Johnson, Lowe, & Reckers, 2008).
Comparative data is also scarce, largely as a result of international differences in
defining minority groups. Research also shows that the under-representation of
minority groups and division of labor in accounting exists elsewhere, including for
example: women in Hong Kong (Lau, 2010) and China (Song & Liu, 2007), Sweden
(Collin et al, 2007), central Europe (Czarniawska, 2008), Turkey (Alev et al., 2010);
ethnic minorities in New Zealand (Kim, 2004), race discrimination in Kenya (Sian,
2007), South Africa (Hammond, 2009) and Trinidad and Tobago (Annisette, 2003).
In much of the extant literature, women and other marginalized groups are implicitly
compared to a white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied norm which has rarely been
problematized or adequately described and analyzed (Jonsen, Tatli, Ozbilgin & Bell).
For example, movements towards equality often focus on minority groups, such as
women, being treated the same as men, irrespective of their differences. However, this
concept has been problematized for failing to recognize differences between and
within minority and majority groups, and for implying that the goal of equality can be
achieved if subordinated groups assimilate to the culture of the dominant group
(Pilcher & Whelehan, 2004). While there is now some research on the experiences of
minority groups in accounting, in particular the challenges women working in
accounting face, a number of areas remain under-explored. The first of these areas is
gender, rather than sex.
Further work is required to understand how experiences within the sector may be
different for subordinated masculinities and femininities. For example, it is naive to
treat women and men as homogeneous groups; while some women are likely to relish
working in a male dominated culture such as accounting, it is equally likely that some
men in the industry find the culture problematic (Ozbilgin & Tatli, 2011). With some
exceptions, much of the extant literature in the field is empirical rather than utilizing
sociological theory to understand the persistent marginalization of women and certain
groups of men. Theories such as hegemonic masculinity (as developed by Connell,
1982) and gender perfomativity (Butler, 1990, 2004) could be applied within the
sector to understand how gender norms manifest within the sector and to help
research move away from an essentialist view of gender. In this sense, we aim to
contribute to accounting studies by attempting to introduce theoretical perspectives
from organizational, sociological, and gender theory to frame this specific call for
papers. We believe that the further broadening of accounting studies will be beneficial
in opening up new, critical perspectives on the practice of accounting (Kornberger et
al., 2010).
Second, there is little research exploring the experiences of accounting employees
with a disability (Duff & Ferguson, 2007). This omission is surprising given the
increasing awareness of disability and employment issues following the introduction
of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) in the United States of America and the
Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (DDA) in the UK, along with European Union
initiatives, such as the European Year of Disabled People in 2003 with the intention
of supporting greater inclusion of disabled people in meaningful employment. Duff,
Ferguson and Gilmore (2007) suggest that the accounting profession, as a whole, is
relatively inactive in dealing with issues of disability and that UK professional
accounting bodies have shown relatively little interest in the well-being of their
disabled members. Disabled workers might be hindered by employer attitudes and
stereotyping as well as by their intention to displace blame for their little interest on to
clients. Moreover, Grey (1998) highlights the importance of appearance and the
image accountants portray to clients. Therefore, one might expect that since
displaying “appropriate” forms of behavior and appearance are the sine qua non of
professionalism in accounting firms, such scrutiny on appearance might have a
negative effect on how disability is viewed. Finally, the significant temporal
commitment required by most accountants, the fluidity of boundaries between private
and public time (Grey, 1994) and the impracticality of flexible work arrangements are
likely to operate in detriment of disabled accountants, especially those with
impairments which restrict mobility or who require assistance.
Third, there is little research on age discrimination in accounting, which is significant
given the extent of the ageing populations in many Western countries, at least. Yet
literature exploring discrimination against accounting employees on the basis of age
appears to be sparse. Data from other sectors suggests that stereotypes about older
workers can significantly and negatively affect employees’ willingness to work with
older workers (Chui et al., 2001).
The stream organizers welcome theoretically informed papers on any aspect of
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the accounting industry, from any country.
We particularly welcome submissions which move beyond a business case argument
for EDI and beyond existing evidence outlining the barriers faced by women working
in accounting. We also welcome papers from researchers from outside the sector, but
whose empirical research and theory from their own field may apply to EDI within
the accounting industry. In addition, papers which examine gender (including
masculinities), ethnicity (including whiteness), disability, age, sexual orientation,
gender identity, class and religious belief or how these intersect are welcomed. Papers
which address age and disability should move beyond a focus on occupational health
and safety.
Topics
Themes which authors may seek to address include (but are not limited to):

Critical evaluations of diversity measures

Intersection of diversities

Problematization of essentialist concepts of gender

Masculinities/femininities in accounting

Age discrimination

Sexual orientation or queer theory in accounting

Disability in accounting

Marginalization of minority groups in accounting

Critiques of existing research on EDI in accounting
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