IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants), CalCPA (California Society of CPAs), and IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) commenced a journey to empirically assess the current state of DE&I within the global accounting profession. Together with research partners and contributors, a multi-part global series of DE&I research studies was conducted in the U.S., Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & North Africa regions that revealed striking similarities between perceptions and experiences of members of the profession across jurisdictions.
This report, Diversifying Global Accounting Talent: Actionable Solutions for Progress, details the results of a capstone study consisting of a review of existing research, analysis of aggregated findings from the regional studies (more than 8,500 survey respondents and 100 interviewees), and synthesis of key themes that emerged from a series of global think tank (roundtable) discussions with accounting practitioners, academics, and representatives of professional accountancy organizations. More than 60 professional accountancy organizations from around the world are included in this report as DE&I Advocates – representing one of the largest collective DE&I initiatives in the history of the global accounting profession.
The research presents:
- catalysts for DE&I action that transcend geographies,
- an inventory of more than 70 actionable DE&I practices with proposed indicators and metrics to measure progress,
- a call for an explicit, authoritative statement issuing guidance on the ethical responsibility of accountants regarding DE&I,
- an illustration of the link between DE&I and sustainability, and
- a call for collective action toward DE&I progress across the global accounting profession.
Other IMA resources on this topic include:
Strategic Finance article: Toward a Culture of Belonging
Count Me In podcast: Diversifying Global Accounting Talent: Actionable Solutions for Progress
Count Me In podcast: DE&I in Accounting with IFAC President Alan Johnson