https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2370-0179
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Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature review to identify research trends and future research opportunities focusing on how diversity is considered in the accounting literature. We retrieved 428 studies that consider diversity published in accounting journals over the period 1979–2021 from the Scopus database. Our analysis shows that research about diversity in accounting has significantly increased over the last five years, with the majority focusing on gender and on questions related to corporate governance. We identify four major themes on the topic of diversity: (i) diversity in the accounting profession; (ii) diversity in corporate governance; (iii) diversity in audit and accounting processes; and (iv) the influence of preparing and reporting organizational information on diversity. The results of these studies highlight that having more organizational diversity and reporting on diversity have positive implications for organizational performance; however, at the same time, this often creates or perpetuates power imbalances. A question remains as to whether this increasing focus on diversity in the literature reflects increasing attention to diversity in accounting to promote equity and social justice. This paper represents the first systematic review of diversity considerations in accounting, and helps scholars understand the main topics explored so far and, where research should focus next.
Acknowledgements
We thank the editor Carlos Larrinaga, two anonymous reviewers, and Giovanna Michelon (discussant) for their helpful comments and suggestions, as well as the workshop participants at the 2023 European Accounting Review Conference and the 2023 SIDREA Congress.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplemental Data and Research Materials
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2024.2330089.
Online Appendix A – Research protocol.
Online Appendix B – Details of the Scopus search.
Online Appendix C – Bibliometric analysis: Tables and figures.
Notes
1 Diversity between and within different dimensions of social identities includes age, sex, race, ethnicity, disabilities, sexual orientation, religion, educational background, and expertise. However, we acknowledge that the definition of diversity remains unclear and the use of dimensions is often questioned (Harrison & Klein, Citation2007; Jonsen et al., Citation2011).
2 For instance, in numerous European countries (e.g., Germany, Italy, France) firms are required to have a certain percentage of gender board diversity (Jourova, Citation2016).
3 Secondary/deep-level diversity dimensions may influence the core identity but they do not fundamentally change who we are; e.g., learning style, status (Roberson, Citation2013).
4 Consistent with prior literature analyzing diversities (Betancourt & López, Citation1993; Roberson, Citation2013) and policy-makers dealing with diversity (e.g., U.S. census), we refer to race to indicate the division of individuals into distinct groups based on physical characteristics and the social attribution of meaning to these groups; ethnicity pertains to the culture of people in a particular geographical region, including their heritage, language and customs. Thus, ethnicity may not only be inherited but also learned throughout life. As highlighted in the definition of diversity and its dimensions, we recognize that the boundaries between diversity dimensions, and in particular about race and ethnicity, are often questioned (Flanagin et al., Citation2021).
5 In a well-known book, Collins and Bilge (Citation2020) state that ‘Intersectionality investigates how intersectional power relations influence social relations across diverse societies as well as individual experiences in everyday life. As an analytic tool, intersectionality views dimensions of race, class, gender, sexuality, class, nation, disability, ethnicity, and age – among others – as interrelated and mutually shaping one another. Intersectionality is a way of understanding and explaining complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences’ (p. 2).
6 For further information, please see https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Intersectionality-resource-guide-and-toolkit-en.pdfhttps://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Intersectionality-resource-guide-and-toolkit-en.pdfhttps://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Intersectionality-resource-guide-and-toolkit-en.pdf.
7 For further information, please see https://www.ilga-europe.org/https://www.ilga-europe.org/.
8 For further information, please see https://kinseyinstitute.org/https://kinseyinstitute.org/.
9 Further information at https://abdc.edu.au/research/abdc-journal-list/https://abdc.edu.au/research/abdc-journal-list/.
10 We recognize the presence of articles on diversity issues and accounting exists in non-accounting journals (e.g., Gender, Work, and Organization; Gender and Society, Journal of Business Ethics; Human Relations) due to cross cutting concepts of diversity and the broader consideration of diversity in society and in the workplace. As outlined above, the analysis of these outlets is beyond the scope of this study which focuses on the ongoing conversations in accounting journals.
11 A few articles may have publication dates beyond the sampled interval due to the time between the journal issue's release and its online publication, as then reflected in the current paper version.
12 Each of the three authors analyzed the sample of studies created in the first step and applied the two inclusion criteria. They then discussed and agreed on the final sample of articles to be analyzed. To ensure the robustness of the result, this analysis was repeated by an external researcher and expert on the subject, who confirmed the results achieved by the three authors.
13 Given the large number of articles, the full list of articles is available upon request from the authors.
14 To address concerns that the ABDC journal list selection might overlook a substantial amount of accounting research on diversity and that the high proportion of Anglo-Saxon authors is connected to the dominance of English as the language of academic publication in the ABDC list, we examined outputs from contexts with seemingly lower outputs. Specifically, we examined the proceedings of the African Accounting and Finance Association conference in both English and French for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, focusing on contributions from scholars based in Africa. We identified a limited number of studies (less than five), which were predominantly centered around gender dimensions. Furthermore, we examined articles published in Revista Contabilidad y Auditoría, a journal issued by the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, spanning the period 2017 to 2020. We explored the proceedings of the last three Conferencia Latinoamericana de Contabilidad (Latin American Accounting Conference – own translation), aiming to address the underrepresentation of South American perspectives (with the exception of Brazil and Colombia that are not underrepresented countries). In this expanded review, we identified only two papers on accounting and diversity authored by South American scholars. While these supplementary analyses provide some reassurance regarding our methodological approach, we acknowledge a limitation in our study's findings.
15 Comprehensively, articles published within Critical Perspectives on Accounting on diversity are mostly qualitative studies.
16 A very small number of studies do not identify any benefits associated with diversity. For instance, Umans (Citation2013) finds that cultural diversity in the top management team has a negative association with organizational performance.
17 In Québec, at least one member of the board of directors for state-owned enterprises must be 35 years old or younger (G-1.02).
18 For instance, the financial magazine Forbes issues every year a list of top financial influencers under 30 (https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2021/).
19 ‘Pinkwashing’ tends to indicate the practice of indicating organizations or governmental reports of LGBTQI-friendliness to distract from negative corporate or government activities in the social domain (Schulman, Citation2011).
20 For instance, the European Accounting Association organized a webinar on March 17, 2022, titled ‘Decolonizing the accounting Curriculum’ with an attendance of over 100 people. Information at https://eaa-online.org/arc/events/diversity-and-equity-decolonizing-accounting-curriculum/.
21 We caution about these results as they are based on the name and the official university pictures on the authors’ website. As these results are subject to measurement error, we only discuss summative findings.
22 According to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Two-Spirit is a term coined to indicate a community organizing tool for Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island who embody diverse sexualities, gender identities, roles and/or expressions. Further information: https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/52214.htmlhttps://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/52214.html