Convenient fictions and inconvenient truths: Dilemmas of diversity at three leading accountancy firms

Ashley, Louise; Empson, Laura

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2015.05.002

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(76 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The meritocratic nature of allocating paid yearlong placements may contradict some interview studies exploring the recruitment and promotion process in elite accounting firms by interviews (Blackmore et al, 2015;Duff et al, 2007;Jacobs, 2003;Kim, 2004aKim, , 2004bKim, , 2008Kornberger et al, 2010), but can be explained by other interview studies revealing a class change in elite accounting and banking industries in recent decades (Ashley & Empson, 2016;Riach & Cutcher, 2014;Spence, Dambrin, Carter, Husillos, & Archel, 2015). Traders in financial firms and partners in the leading four accounting firms are often the product of state schools and provincial universities and of working or low middle class.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Who are gaining the highly paid elite placements in UK higher education?

Wang

Crawford

2018

Studies in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study analyses longitudinal student data to determine the influence of social class, academic performance and other individual factors such as gender, ethnicity and age on entry on the possibility of obtaining highly paid placements in elite professions. Focusing on subject-relevant placements, the findings here strongly support the meritocratic recruitment and rewarding process for such work experience schemes. Prestigious and highly paid placements in elite professional firms are not filled by socially privileged upper middle class students but the academically "brightest" students from a wide range of social and individual backgrounds. Excellent academic performance has been interpreted by elite firms as equivalent to high levels of employability skills and productivity. Finally, there is evidence to suggest that well-paid placements can facilitate socioeconomic mobility of working class

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Who are gaining the highly paid elite placements in UK higher education?

Wang

Crawford

2018

Studies in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Accounting is dominated by a professional identity based on permanent availability for the client's needs, despite an illusion of a flexible program. There is a phenomenon called "customer service ethics" (Ashley and Empson, 2016). Telework became mandatory during the pandemic.…”

Section: Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy Work Investment for the Accounting Profession in Romania at Time of Coronavirus Pandemic

Mihai¹,

Stan²,

Radu³

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heavy work investment in various domains of activity has not been sufficiently explored. This paper investigates how accounting professionals in Romania perceived different aspects related to the heavy work investment during the coronavirus pandemic. Professional accountants devote, by the nature of their job, many hours of work. In March 2020, unprecedented measures were taken in Romania in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. These include the obligation to work remotely where possible. The study' objective is to establish the socio-economic implications generated by the COVID-19 pandemic vis-à-vis accounting professionals and the activities of the financial-accounting department within the organizations during the affected period. The data were collected between April and June 2020 by distributing a questionnaire online and were processed using the SPSS software. The research results show that professional accountants have adapted quite quickly to distance work. Work during the pandemic generated additional stress and fatigue, but had positive influence on the work-family relationship and productivity. The research results show that the respondents' perception of work was influenced by the following variables: the age of the respondents, the city where they work, the way of carrying out the profession (employee or freelancer), and the size of the company where they work. The results obtained can be used by managers and regulatory bodies.

show abstract

“…While flexible working is available, people can be reluctant to adopt flexible work practices because they can be viewed as career-limiting (Lindsay 2017). Ashley and Empson (2016) therefore conclude that the business case is flawed, but not fatally so, since a reconsideration of the long hours culture against which employees are assessed, and a greater focus on the 'dual breadwinner' model, could lead to a reconceptualisation of the business case in a way that incorporates diversity in reality rather than just rhetorically. The diversity agenda has therefore been embraced by accounting firms but still presents challenges in implementation.…”

Section: Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Paisey

Tarbert

et al. 2019

Accounting and Business Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using the work of Bourdieu and Savage, this paper investigates social class and social mobility among chartered accountants who qualified with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in 2009. We find that these accountants tend to come from privileged backgrounds and that those who qualified with Big Four firms possess more economic, social and cultural capital than those who qualify with other firms. Our study provides fresh insights into how elements of social class interact with social background. In contrast with the prevailing view that there is limited social mobility in the accountancy profession, we find some evidence of social mobility, suggesting that current debates are based on contestable assumptions. We also find that chartered accountants from more deprived backgrounds as indicated by childhood postcode often have a father who has a professional or managerial occupation, so are not deprived on all measures. Where those from more deprived backgrounds accessed chartered accountancy careers, this was at the expense of people whose parents held lower rather than higher professional or managerial jobs. This suggests that the most advantaged maintain access to chartered accountancy but those from more middling professional homes are displaced when those from more deprived backgrounds gain access.

show abstract

Convenient fictions and inconvenient truths: Dilemmas of diversity at three leading accountancy firms

Cited by 26 publications

References 55 publications

Who are gaining the highly paid elite placements in UK higher education?

Who are gaining the highly paid elite placements in UK higher education?

Heavy Work Investment for the Accounting Profession in Romania at Time of Coronavirus Pandemic

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About