Diversity, equity, and inclusion, better known as DEI is a popular buzzword in recent years that is the center stage of controversy. From the Me Too and BLM movements DEI remained a relevant topic of discussion. In this paper I looked into diversity and inclusion in the accounting field and try to answer the question: Should the accounting field promote more diversity and inclusion and what should the accounting field do moving forward? After my extensive research on this topic, I have come up with a conclusion to this question. The accounting field should promote diversity to attract different talents but it could also be dangerous and unhealthy for the overall state of the accounting field if overly pushed.

What is DEI?

Before we look into DEI in the Accounting Profession we need to understand what DEI is.

Importance of DEI

Throughout my research on diversity and inclusion in the accounting profession, I found many convincing arguments. One of the most recurring and agreed-upon arguments is the importance of diversity in the profession. Many professionals and experts agreed that diversity promotes new perspectives which boost a team’s productivity and effectiveness. Surveys and research also indicate that diversity can lead to higher innovation revenue in accounting. A Boston Consulting Group survey shows that firms with more diverse teams report a 19% higher innovation revenue when compared to companies with below-average diversity (University of North Dakota, 2020). This statistic is important because one of the most reliable ways to compare two similar firms is their revenue as it shows how successful they are compared to one another. Accounting leaders and employers should consider the potential growth of their firms and the accounting field as a whole. As the communities around us start to change, a diverse workforce would form to reflect that of the community. Diversity brings high value to an organization as it creates a competitive edge and increases work productivity (Green et al., 2022). As the demographic of our society shifts, so should the workforce. A more diverse team is better equipped with diverse experiences which allows them to better understand a diverse community. This allows them to be able to satisfy and connect with their client rather than just help. “The more diverse backgrounds there are, the more motivation there is to use the tools of the field to solve actual problems. We might use math and computer science to help social issues rather than just optimize production or do quantitative analysis. People who come from these backgrounds are more passionate about these diverse issues, and their background and experience living in or in proximity to social issues give them the edge in understanding and solving them better (Liu, 2023).” Diversity enables firms to tackle diverse problems allowing them to branch further as compared with those with mediocre diversity. Among the 33 participants surveyed, the vast majority of them responded on the importance of diversity in the workforce saying it allows more experience to converse to find the best solution to any problem. 

Why Perfect Diversity is unrealistic

Although diversity may provide many benefits to a firm as discussed, I believe it is important to highlight that pushing for more diversity is important but shouldn’t be a focus as it isn’t a big issue present in the accounting field. When researching the issue, I find many experts constantly advocating for more affirmative actions and implementing ways to give minority groups more opportunities by highlighting the racial disparities in accounting. Black and African American CPAs are still extremely low in number and haven’t increased in the past ten years and Hispanic and Latino CPAs are only slowly increasing. Additionally, around 60% of all bachelor of accounting degree holders are white, meaning only around 40% of the degrees are held by other races (Lindsay, 2022). On the surface, the numbers may seem like there are clear racial prejudices not just in the accounting field, but also in the education system.  However, by looking through the lens of accounting in the United States, it is unrealistic to expect there to be perfect diversity. According to the United States Census Bureau, around 75.8% of the United States population is White, 13.6% is Black or African American, 18.9% is Hispanic or Latino, and 6.1% is Asian. We can see that the Accounting field is quite diverse in relation to the population of the United States. As mentioned by (Green et al., 2022), the workplace should reflect the communities they serve. Of course, there may be other factors that could impact the workforce demographic, and one of these factors could very much be racial discrimination. However, as far as I can see a white population of 75.8% and 60% of all bachelor of accounting degree holders being white doesn’t seem all too far-fetched. The idea of perfect diversity may sound like a good idea however it isn’t exactly achievable. Perfect diversity is scientifically unrealistic as it would include disabilities (Mertes & Hens, 2015). Perfect diversity means that people of every background are represented equally in every field, which may include disabilities and other traits that will hinder a worker’s ability to be the most efficient.

Even though perfect diversity is unrealistic in the accounting field. The question still stands, “should the accounting field promote more diversity?” My answer and approach to the question are dependent on the scale on which it is promoted. As stated previously, diversity is certainly beneficial to a firm’s effectiveness. So, promoting isn’t a problem. It is only when the push for diversity become so excessive that there is a clear quota that a firm is trying to meet. Take affirmative action as an example, in trying to promote diversity to counteract discrimination and racism, racism is used (Sacks & Thiel, 1996). The solution to inclusion isn’t discrimination, however, it is happening right in front of our eyes with affirmative actions and excessive promotion of diversity. Instead of helping these minority groups, these policies are hurting them. A capable individual would be able to get hired no matter their skin color or gender, so affirmative action is taking away credit from these minority individuals as it suggests that they aren’t as capable as their white counterparts. Some experts may argue that there may be underlying bias against people of color and women which warrants quotas (Elting, 2022). However, it doesn’t mean that it is right to instead discriminate against an individual who isn’t considered marginalized and minorities. (Werner, 2020) sheds light on the case Ricci v. DeStefano where even though a white firefighter outperformed a minority firefighter in a promotional test the city wanted to disregard the test result and promote the minority firefighter. The court of course ruled that it is constitutionally unlawful to discriminate against white candidates based on their race. Overall, diversity is important but it shouldn’t cross the line and enters into discrimination.

Proportional Diversity

Having highlighted the issues with perfect diversity and possible dangers of diversity, equity, and inclusion pushes in the accounting field, what are possible alternatives? I believe a much healthier and more realistic approach to diversity is proportional diversity. Looking back on all the research, (Green et al., 2022) suggest that the workplace should reflect the community it serves. This means that the workplace population should somewhat mirror that of the community it is operating in. Instead of perfect diversity agendas which push every possible gender, race, sexuality, etc. represented equally in the accounting field. Proportional diversity will instead look at the community the firm serves and represent it in their firm as best as they can. The accounting field should refrain from over-promoting diversity to avoid diluting talents and undermining certain groups’ efforts just to meet diversity quotas.

Opposing View

Other researchers and experts may disagree with my conclusion that the accounting field doesn’t need more attention placed on promoting diversity. They argue that more work needs to be done such as educating managers on the benefits of diversity (University of North Dakota, 2020), actively fighting against discrimination, working towards inclusivity (Devoe, 1999) and even making provisions for maternity/paternity and dependency leave for employees to attract and retain talents(Kyriakidou et al., 2016). Most of these researchers suggest that there is a large disparity in race in the accounting field which is dominated by white females. However, this could be explained by the United States population being majority white. In the research, they concede that the accounting field is diverse in terms of gender being a 60-40 female to male. I find it quite hypocritical because had it been the other way around, they would have used it to say that there needs to be more attention to closing the gap. Additionally, all of the ways of promoting diversity suggested by these experts are extremely costly to implement with very little return. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, the accounting field should slow its efforts in pushing for more diversity as it is a relatively diverse field. Pushing for perfect diversity is impossible and could be extremely dangerous if it crosses the line and becomes discrimination. The takeaway is that the accounting field and other fields should adopt proportional diversity instead of trying to meet perfect diversity which is simply unrealistic.

Watch the video below to learn more about the consequences of DEI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: DEI Training’s Unintended Consequences