Racial biases in recruitment by accounting firms: The case of international Chinese applicants in Australia

James, Kieran; Otsuka, Setsuo

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2008.02.005

Cited by 45 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…For example, the development (or lack) of generic or transferable skills in university education is one form in which class divisions are constructed in the accountancy profession (Jacobs, ). Similarly, ‘soft skills’, including leadership, written and oral English communication skills, are increasingly deemed decisive in hiring processes in accounting firms (Jacobs, ; James and Otsuka, ; Kim, ; Law and Yuen, ), but these skills are likely to subtly favour middle‐class applicants over applicants from working‐class communities as they are linked to applicants’ upbringing and ‘derive from cultural context, particularly that of the dominant or ruling classes’ (Jacobs, , p. 575).…”

Section: Research On Differences and Inequality In Professional Servimentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Intersectionality in Organizations: Inequality Markers, Cultural Scripts and Advancement Practices in a Professional Service Firm

Castro¹,

Holvino²

2016

Gender Work & Organization

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This paper presents an intersectional analysis of career advancement practices in professional service firms. It reveals how gender, class, racio‐ethnicity and culture intersect at the individual, organizational and societal levels to create and reinforce advantages and disadvantages across complex dimensions of difference. Based on a qualitative analysis of data collected in a Big Four firm in Mexico, this article advances the empirical study of intersectionality in organizations by applying the construct of ‘cultural scripts’ and proposing the use of ‘markers of inequality’ to illuminate the simultaneous construction of differences of gender, class and racio‐ethnicity in a specific socio‐cultural context. Our findings show that career trajectories and advancement in this firm are contradictory processes, over‐determined by individual employees' lived identities, work interactions shaped by those identities, as well as formal and informal organizational practices embedded in an already raced, classed and gendered societal context and culture.

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Section: Research On Differences and Inequality In Professional Servimentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Intersectionality in Organizations: Inequality Markers, Cultural Scripts and Advancement Practices in a Professional Service Firm

Castro¹,

Holvino²

2016

Gender Work & Organization

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“…This stance is reinforced by accounting literature that has portrayed the accountancy profession as socially exclusive (see e.g. Grey 1998, Jacobs 2003, Anderson and Walker 2009, James and Otsuka 2009.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diversity discourse in accounting has been much discussed in relation to gender and now extends to include other dimensions such as ethnicity, disability and sexuality but this paper focuses solely on one aspect, that of social mobility. Research in accounting has frequently adopted a Bourdieusian-inspired social analysis framework referring to an array of capitalseconomic, social and culturalthat have been found to be associated with professional career success and which are relevant to a discussion of social mobility (see for example Jacobs 2003, James and Otsuka 2009, Edgley et al 2016, Duff 2017). These capitals are now considered more fully.…”

Section: Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In accounting, the lower scores on measures of cultural capital recognised by recruiters of Chinese accounting graduates in Australia placed them at a disadvantage in the recruitment market despite them possessing other forms of cultural capital, such as language skills and knowledge of Chinese business culture that were lacking in white Australian graduates (James and Otsuka 2009). Cultural capital has also been identified in a variety of forms including speech and dress (Haynes 2012), taste, expertise and soft skills and the possession of prestigious qualifications (Anderson-Gough et al 2001, McPhail et al 2010.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Paisey

Tarbert

et al. 2019

Accounting and Business Research

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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.

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“…Although the process of closure is evident in accounting professions elsewhere, in the South African context it uniquely relates to the majority of the population (South African Institute of Chartered Accountants [SAICA], 2013a;Statistics SA, 2011). It does not represent a marginalised minority such as the African-Americans in the USA (Foma, 2013;Stewart, Wells, & Ross, 2011), Chinese accounting graduates in Australia (James & Otsuka, 2009), Chinese and Maori accountants in New Zealand (Kim, 2004;McNicholas, Humphries, & Gallhofer, 2004) or Scottish chartered accountants (CAs) apparently being predominantly from the middle and upper classes (McPhail, Paisey, & Paisey, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping Disadvantaged Students: Findings from the Thuthuka Programme

Barac

2015

Accounting Education

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Abstract:Drawing on social closure theory, this study achieved a deep understanding of the perceptions and experiences of the first cohort of candidates passing through the Thuthuka support programme. Using semi-structured interviews as part of a qualitative approach, currently prevalent modes of professional closure were considered by taking the backgrounds of these students into account, together with their perceptions of the accounting profession. Their views on whether the Thuthuka programme as an intervention had been successful in removing post-apartheid professional closure were determined by taking into account the Thuthuka students' readiness to sit for professional examinations and to enter the workplace. The findings of the study suggest features that could be considered in support programmes intended for socio-economically disadvantaged students to facilitate their entry into a restrictive and restricted market.

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Racial biases in recruitment by accounting firms: The case of international Chinese applicants in Australia

Cited by 45 publications

References 32 publications

Applying Intersectionality in Organizations: Inequality Markers, Cultural Scripts and Advancement Practices in a Professional Service Firm

Applying Intersectionality in Organizations: Inequality Markers, Cultural Scripts and Advancement Practices in a Professional Service Firm

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

Helping Disadvantaged Students: Findings from the Thuthuka Programme

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