Protect, profit, profess, promote: Establishing legitimacy through logics of diversity in Canadian accounting firm recruitment documents

Bujaki, Merridee; Durocher, Sylvain; Brouard, François; Neilson, Leighann C.; Pyper, Rhonda

doi:10.1002/cjas.1392

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In fact, we noted in passing only one picture on the CPA Ontario website. Given the importance of visuals and images in communicating with the current generation of recruits (Bujaki, Durocher, Brouard, Neilson, and Pyper, ; Weiler, ), we find it surprising that there are no images of CPAs on the website. How can prospective professional accountants identify with CPAs, and aspire to become a CPA, if they cannot picture what CPAs do or are like, other than focused on making a lot of money and advancing themselves?…”

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 94%

Attracting Prospective Professional Accountants Before and After the CPA Merger in Canada

Brouard

Bujaki

Durocher

2017

Accounting Perspectives

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As part of the unification of the Canadian accounting profession, a lot of effort has been devoted to organizational structures and systems. In these times of change, recruitment of prospective professional accountants remains an important factor for the Canadian and international development of the profession. In this paper, we explore professional accountants' recruitment by accounting associations in Ontario before (CA, CGA, CMA) and after (CPA) the merger of the three professional accounting associations. We use a legitimacy framework to make sense of the recruitment website content of each association. We find, in the post-merger period, that the CPA profession adopts a more passive approach to legitimacy management, focusing mainly on exchange aspects of legitimacy, whereas prior to the merger a wider range of legitimacy management strategies were deployed by the predecessor associations. Important implications ensuing from our study are discussed.(CPA) la fusion des trois associations comptables professionnelles. Un cadre de la l egitimit e est utilis e pour interpr eter le contenu des pages de recrutement des sites web de chaque association. Les r esultats indiquent que la profession comptable, durant la p eriode post erieure a l'unification (CPA), adopte une approche davantage passive dans la gestion de la l egitimit e, en mettant l'accent sur la l egitimit e d' echange, alors que, durant la p eriode ant erieure a la fusion, un plus grand nombre de strat egies de gestion de la l egitimit e etaient utilis ees par les associations pr ed ecesseures. Les principales retomb ees de l' etude sont analys ees.

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Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 94%

Attracting Prospective Professional Accountants Before and After the CPA Merger in Canada

Brouard

Bujaki

Durocher

2017

Accounting Perspectives

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“…The diversity agenda being actively promoted by the large accounting firms presents a challenge for this view of fit since, by definition, recruiting people from more diverse backgrounds adds variety and lessens the chances of recruiting in line with a narrow conception of fit. Bujaki et al (2018) show that diversity is mentioned on the websites of the eight largest Canadian accountancy firms as an important legitimising strategy, with emphasis being placed on the benefits, business case, inclusiveness and broadening the focus to include other types of diversity beyond race and gender. Likewise, diversity is now firmly implanted in the agenda of the Big Four firms in the UK and is recognised as influencing the social construction of professional identity.…”

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

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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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“…This unique ecology has facilitated the emergence of an array of “safe spaces,” EDI offices and other mechanisms designed to render campuses more welcoming for students and faculty members (Bender, 2016). Several authors argue that the institution of these progressive reforms now serves as a vehicle through which universities – and organizations more broadly – acquire legitimacy or reputational capital (Bujaki et al ., 2018; Davis, 2018; Tayar, 2017). This duplicity has raised legitimate concerns about the prospective hijacking of EDI within higher education for marketing purposes (Ahmed, 2007, 2012; Bell and Hartmann, 2007; Bhopal and Pitkin, 2020; Thomas, 2018), given the only superficial effects that these policies appear to have on organizational culture and pedagogy (Ahmed, 2021; Morley, 1999; Vertovec, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do EDI policies fail? An inhabited institutions perspective

Milian

Wijesingha

2023

EDI

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PurposeEquity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies have proliferated in recent decades, but studies have repeatedly noted their inefficacy and adverse effects. To understand the potential root causes of the inefficiency of EDI policies, this study examines how they are inhabited by individuals at the ground level.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on data gathered through 23 in-depth interviews with instructors at Progressive U, a large research-intensive Canadian university.FindingsThe data gathered/analyzed suggest that the implementation of EDI policies at Progressive U is hindered by the absence of coercive enforcement mechanisms, skepticism about their authenticity, the over-regulation of work and unresponsive bureaucratic structures.Originality/valueThis study examines the implementation of EDI policies through the prism of the inhabited institutions perspective in organizational sociology, producing insights that help to explain why EDI policies typically fail. In doing so, it produces insights relevant to both academic researchers and practitioners in the field.

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Protect, profit, profess, promote: Establishing legitimacy through logics of diversity in Canadian accounting firm recruitment documents

Cited by 20 publications

References 24 publications

Attracting Prospective Professional Accountants Before and After the CPA Merger in Canada

Attracting Prospective Professional Accountants Before and After the CPA Merger in Canada

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

Why do EDI policies fail? An inhabited institutions perspective

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