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Chief
Yup, they are working on improving those numbers. It’s gonna take time to bump those numbers up ( takes ~15 years to hit partner + 22 years old once you graduate college)
They started the women’s initiative in 1992. So, whatever they are doing is not working.
Coming from a 27-year-old African American male, I honestly get tired of seeing reports on these numbers, treating DEI as if companies have to meet some sort of DEI quota. It’s why I find most DEI efforts to be BS. I think the people involved generally have good intentions, but I don’t agree with most of the solutions that get proposed because they usually don’t make a real, genuine difference.
I think the biggest factor that gets overlooked in these discussions is the natural cultural barrier that exists between different ethnic/racial groups. We all naturally gravitate towards the familiar/comfortable, so if someone in a leadership position can’t find a way to relate to you, they’re naturally not going to talk to you as much. In many cases I don’t think it’s intentional. I think it just naturally happens but we’re all being told to believe it’s intentional which I think is BS because 99% of people are good people at their core. Either way, I think the best that can be done is for people in leadership positions to at least be aware of the cultural barriers when there’s people on their team from different cultural backgrounds and try to find a healthy way to break them down which is in everyone’s best interests. I don’t believe in handouts/lecturing because trying to force people into a new behavior just doesn’t work.
I’m speaking from experience as I’ve grown up in some of the most diverse areas in the country along with predominantly white/black areas. Overall, natural human behavior is the #1 factor in these discussions, yet I think it’s the factor that’s paid attention to the least, in my opinion (or if it’s paid attention to, it’s done in a way that tries to force people to change their natural human behavior, which I think rarely works).
KPMG1 no, I basically said to try in a much different way than the methods being used now because the current methods have a high chance of failure.
I think all of us on this post primarily agree on the issue that needs to be resolved. Where we differ is on how to resolve it.
And they use diversity as a recruiting strategy..
Latino here, it's a mentorship problem not a recruiting problem.
Pro
So then does that mean we have a problem with bias coming from the tone of the top? Why are POC not being provided mentorship they clearly need to navigate through higher ranks? Why shell out all of this money if they truly don’t care. :/
What about Latinos? .005?
Pro
Hmm.. I mean I wonder where these numbers stand against the other 3 firms. We know there is/was a pipeline problem. But I am shocked that these numbers are where they are in 2021. Why was this not a ‘problem’ before?
Chief
All firms have a diversity report, a quick google search will show you them. This has alwys been a problem but it has only come to the forefront due to different factors such as politics , client demanding it, culture changes amongst other things
2% of the students in my college accounting classes were black.
Yeah the AICPA guide shows 6% of accounting grads are black. Yes we want to increase diversity, but I think that has to go back as far as to high schools and the start of college getting people to see this as a good opportunity.
Pro
I also noted in a recent AICPA study — 60%+ of new accounting grads were women. So something isn’t adding up here 🤔
What did grads look like 25 years ago? Those are PPMDs today
Just went and looked. Per PWC, 5% PPMD's (African American), 36% Female
I just looked up pwc. 23% women at partner level. 82% white
Pro
Based off what has been said here it looks like we can do better in retaining minorities and women? Yes, turnover exists and will continue to exist in professional services, but we should work on retaining, developing and supporting the talent we already have. If we are working to improve diversity, there should be a double down focus on retention as well. Now, will that take more mentorship, more support for working moms or more professional development? Yes, I think it’s a must. It’s either that or we won’t see a material change in the long term.
In addition, in an organizational structure and its resulting culture such as this, we can’t ignore that some groups have been favored or supported more than others. This is probably why things are the way they are. I work with so many women and I know plenty of black and Latino accountants.. these numbers need to be scrutinized further and we need to further understand why white men dominate PPMD.
Very astute, but I think that will require PA firms to stop treating everyone like they are expendable. They act like everyone can be replaced and that they are helping their workers, not the other way around. It will require a big change in mentality for the firms to realize that there are other more sustainable models that could still lead to profit in the partners pockets
I wonder What are ey numbers?
They suck as well - 26 percent pp women, 2 percent black and 17 percent diverse. The percent of women compared to population and start class is abysmal. As one of the 26 percent, the frustration of being at this level and getting credit for contributions without being undermined is high. It’s usually mid level leadership and regional leadership creating a nasty environment fir women to want to play that game. They want to promote their buds who are less talented because they carry their bags for them. They fit their mold.