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CULTURE AND GENDER IN ACCOUNTING RESEARCH: GOING BEYOND MYNATTET AL.
Critical Perspectives on Accounting (1997) 8, 685]692
CULTURE AND GENDER IN ACCOUNTING RESEARCH: GOING BEYOND MYNATT ET AL. THERESA DAVIS HAMMOND Department of Accounting, Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167, USA
Accounting research suffers from a lack of attention to culture and gender issues. In particular, no in-depth research which explores Latinos in the accounting profession has been undertaken. Such research would challenge prevailing notions of equality of opportunity in the profession and would take a qualitative approach to investigating the persistent under-representation of people of color among accountants.
Q
1997 Academic Press Limited
Introduction Both culture and gender are under-explored topics in the accounting literature. In particular, no substantive examinations of Latinos in the accounting industry have been published. While we should welcome work that addresses these issues, certain qualities fundamental to insightful research into the demographics of certified public accountants are missing from the Mynatt et al. work (pp. 675]683). This discussion focuses on the elements I consider essential to good critical work on culture, gender and accounting to encourage others to undertake projects in this area. Such studies should consider the appropriate motivation for research on culture and gender, the danger of accepting the status quo as ‘‘normal’’, the historical context in which difference arises, heterogeneity within groups, the intersection of demographic ‘‘ variables’’, what perspective the authors bring to the issue, and the suitability of qualitative versus quantitative methodology. These issues are discussed in the following pages.
Motivation What constitutes an appropriate motivation for a critical article on accounting? Certainly, one appropriate motivation would be a concern about the homogeneity of the United States accounting industry, where 96% of partners in CPA firms (95% in firms with over 200 professionals) Received 3 January 1997; revised 17 July 1997; accepted 29 July 1997
685 1045-2354/ 97 / 060685+ 08 $25.00 / 0 / pa970162
Q 1997
Academic Press Limited
686
T. D. Hammond
are white and 84% (93% in the largest firms) are men (AICPA, 1996a). Unfortunately, while Mynatt et al. point out the fact that culture and gender have been understudied, they do not provide innovative analysis that could be used to counter discrimination in the industry. Instead they model their paper on previous attempts to quantify the causes of turnover among accountants, adding variables on gender and culture to old models. Since Mynatt et al. is the first paper to explicitly address Latinos in accounting, it is disappointing that their approach is so limited. What is also disappointing, especially in a paper ostensibly targeted towards Critical Perspectives on Accounting, is the way Mynatt et al. unquestionably adopt the perspective of the accounting industry. The paper is motivated by a concern for attracting and retaining qualified employees into accounting, and considers the changing demographics of the United States as a challenge that complicates this process. A critical approach would question the assumption that the ‘‘problem’’ lies with the applicants, rather than with the firms. But, like most accounting literature, Mynatt et al. do not even acknowledge the assumptions that underlie the paper. Their paper questions why Latinos do not choose accounting, but does not even address the possibility that accounting firms are not choosing to hire Latinos. Instead of asking how the public accounting industry is going to deal with the changing nature of its work compounded by the changing demographics among workers, authors who genuinely want to provide insights into the field should examine the conditions that led to the homogeneity that exists today. What is it about the history of the accounting industry that has led to its being one of the least inclusive professions in the United States? What are the implications for this lack of diversity on the kinds of projects accountants undertake and the quality of the work they produce? Instead of describing the changing demographics as a ‘‘problem’’, authors should consider the possibility that a long-overdue change could energize a moribund industry.
Women and Latinos as ‘‘Other’’ Everyone has gender and culture, but most conventional approaches in accounting research, including Mynatt et al., assume that men are the ‘‘neutral’’ gender and Anglo-Americans are the ‘‘neutral’’ culture. Accordingly, women and non-Anglo-Americans are treated as ‘‘problems’’ who must be studied, comprehended, and, ideally, adjusted to fit into the ‘‘neutral’’, dominant group. In Mynatt et al., women and Latinos are considered the ‘‘other’’}those outside the main group. A critical approach to culture and gender would challenge the very notion of a group that more naturally belongs in the industry. In contrast, when Mynatt et al. discover that Latino CPAs display no difference in Type A behavior from Anglo-American CPAs, they conclude that because the Latinos they studied live in majority-Latino communities they are more
Culture and gender in accounting research
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free to exhibit Type A behavior. Mynatt et al. uncritically assume that, given the chance, Latinos would naturally want to become more like Anglo-Americans, since they, implicitly, are the ‘‘normal’’ group.
Historical Context In my opinion, an effective critical study should include an analysis of the history of the composition of the profession. While some excellent research has been conducted on women in accounting (e.g. Kirkham & Loft, 1993; Lehman, 1992), the groundwork on Latinos has yet to be laid. Internal data on firms are very difficult to access, but there are some data on Latinos in the accounting industry that provide a good starting point for research on the subject. According to a recent AICPA report (1996b), Latinos make up 7% of accounting majors, only 5% of accounting graduates, and only 3% of new hires into public accounting in the United States. Mynatt et al. refers to Latinos ‘‘self-selecting’’ accounting, but these statistics indicate that something else is transpiring. Many Latinos clearly select accounting majors, but what reduces the number who graduate with their intended major? And why are they under-represented among accounting firm hires? The AICPA data also reveal that, while the percentage of Latinos among accountants employed by major public accounting firms grew slowly but steadily during the 1980s, their representation among public accounting hires as a percentage of accounting graduates was significantly lower throughout the 1980s than it was in the late 1970s. Perhaps, as happened with African Americans (see Hammond, 1997), recruitment of Latinos dropped in the 1980s due to declining public pressure to diversify the professions. According to the Survey of Earned Doctorates, only eight Latinos earned their Ph.D.s in Accounting between 1983 and 1992 which, at 0.6% of all Accounting Ph.D.s granted during the period, is even lower than the paltry representation of African Americans among the same group. Of those eight, only three were Mexican-American, despite the fact that Mexican Americans constitute the largest group of Latinos in the United States. Latinos are more under-represented among accounting Ph.D.s than they are in Finance, Management, or Marketing. An examination of the under-representation of Latinos in accounting might include study of their exclusion from Ph.D. programs as well as the importance of Latino faculty mentors and role models in enhancing opportunities for Latino accounting graduates. In addition to gathering the available data on Latinos in the profession, consideration needs to be given to wider social, historical, and political issues. Mynatt et al. recognize that Latinos constitute the fastest-growing cultural group in the United States, at 6.4% of the United States population in 1980 and 9.0% 10 years later. Like Anglo-Americans, Latinos are not a monolithic group. A Cuban American who arrived in the United States in the 1950s may have very little in
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common with a Central American who arrived in the 1980s. Mynatt et al. acknowledge that gender is culturally specific, the does not give equal care to its analysis of Latinos. Treating the as a homogeneous unit facilitates stereotyping and exclusion (see mond & Preston, 1992).
While paper group Ham-
Heterogeneity Among ‘‘Hispanics’’ Unfortunately, generalizations pervade the Mynatt et al. paper. Statements such as ‘‘Hispanics view work as a necessity for survival but not as a value in itself’’ and ‘‘...It is much more valuable for Hispanics to experience things directly through intellectual awareness and emotional experiences than indirectly through past accomplishments and accumulations of wealth’’ (p. 662), are overly simplistic and remarkably convenient for an industry in which Latinos are so severely under-represented. While cultural differences are important and worthy of exploration, the recitation of generalizations about Latinos in Mynatt et al. seems gratuitous, particularly since these ‘‘ variables’’ are ultimately determined to be insignificant. Consideration needs to be given to the stereotypes of Latinos and their impact on Latinos’ experiences in accounting. From the earliest days of public accounting, many firms did not want to hire African Americans or women ostensibly because they were concerned that their clients would be offended by having anyone other than a white male examine their financial records (e.g. Mitchell, 1969). In Accountancy as a Career, Scudder explains the lack of opportunities for women by stating ‘‘[B]usiness has been a man’s realm. He feels embarrassed to seek advice from a professional woman regarding matters which it has been customary for men to handle’’ (1939, p. 70). An examination of the histories of state certified public accountants, as well as those of firms reveals a difference between the experiences of Latinos and those of African Americans and women. These histories often list the names of Latino accountants dating back to the 1930s; however, these partners all worked in Mexico, Central or South America, or Puerto Rico (e.g. Arthur Andersen & Co., 1974; DeMond, 1951). Perhaps the acceptance of Latinos in international offices led to an easier acceptance of some Latino accountants within the major United States offices of the firms. Nevertheless, in majority-owned CPA firms, only 0.29% of partners are Latino (AICPA, 1996b). An exploration of this unique history, including examination of which Latino groups were more welcome in the firms, would add to our understanding of the history of Latinos in the profession. In addition to the variation within the group ‘‘Latino’’, there is immense regional variation in experience. Mynatt et al. acknowledge that the cities they study, El Paso and San Antonio, have majority Latino populations and that the experiences of their subjects differ from those of Latino accounting professionals in other cities. However, they seem to
Culture and gender in accounting research
689
miss the point when they describe the effect of being in the majority on the Latinos they survey. The authors remark on the success of Latino accountants in these cities, noting that they constitute 12% of their sample, which is higher than Latino representation in the United States (9% in 1990). However, when you consider that the study was conducted in cities with majority Latino populations, 12% seems low. Even the choice of the term ‘‘Hispanic’’ warrants explanation. Various groups use various labels, and there are political histories and social consequences to the choice of labels. I use ‘‘Latino’’ because I ‘‘came of age’’ on these issues while living in a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in San Francisco in the early 1980s, where ‘‘Latino’’ was the preferred term. However, I recently attended a meeting of accounting doctoral students of color in Chicago, and I was booed when I suggested the use of the term ‘‘Latino’’ instead of ‘‘Hispanic’’. Who decides what terms are used? And what is their significance? An understanding of these issues is central to an understanding of Latinos in the profession.
Intersection of Culture and Gender The paper does not examine the intersection of gender and culture. Do Latinas have different experiences than Anglo-American women? What are the commonalities and differences between Latina and Latino experience? Most of the Anglo-American men who dominate the profession have Anglo-American mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. This might mean that they are more comfortable with Anglo-American women in the workplace than they are with Latinos. The number of Anglo-American women entering public accounting grew dramatically throughout the 1980s, while the hiring rate of Latinos dropped. On the other hand, Anglo-American males may feel more paternalistic towards Anglo-American female employees. Perhaps many accounting managers are comfortable with neither, as reflected in this quote from The Big Eight (Stevens, 1981): ‘‘ ‘They really were the good old days back when I was an active partner’, says a retired Big Eight auditor ... ‘It was a gentleman’s business, that’s what I liked about it. Now its like the [United Nations] there ... Now if you want to tell a joke, you have to look around the table first. One of your partners may be Negro, Spanish, a Jew, or a woman. You know how sensitive they are’ ’’ (p. 22).
This perception is particularly revealing since CPA firms do not look anything like the United Nations. As revealed in Mynatt et al., even in Texas cities with majority Latino populations, the survey showed only 12% Latinos among the certified public accountants, Nationwide, 95% of CPAs who work for CPA firms are white, 2.4% are Asian American, 1.6% are Latino, 0.7% are African American, and 31% are female (AICPA, 1996a& b).
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Authors’ Perspective Multiple-authored research is more common in accounting than in many other fields, and this is a potential source of enrichment. Mynatt et al. appear to have missed this opportunity; it is impossible to determine whether there is a variety of perspectives among the authors, because the authors do not reveal what drew them to this subject. What personal experiences do the authors bring to bear? Are any of them Latino? Did the women work in public accounting, and did their experiences there lead to their interest in this topic? The University of Texas at El Paso has a large proportion of Mexican American students; did students’ experiences underlie the interest in this subject? Did the authors contact the Hispanic Society of CPAs or other organizations that address the composition of the profession? While there would be clear benefits to having Latino accounting professors conduct research in this area, there may be obstacles. Those who conduct research on gender or racial issues in accounting are often discouraged by their employers (in severe but not uncommon cases through the denial of tenure) or doctoral advisors from doing so. In my paper on African American doctoral students in accounting (Hammond, 1995), I found that many of the students were interested in doing research on the under-representation of African Americans in public accounting, but none believed that it was a safe avenue for research if they wanted to be gainfully employed upon completion of their Ph.D.s. Likewise, untenured faculty do not want to be stigmatized by their research. I have met many women who believe they were regarded unfavorably in the tenure process because of their interest in gender research. This pervasive discouragement is very successful in ensuring that accounting faculty confine themselves to research that does not challenge the status quo. If doctoral students cannot do cultural or gender research for fear of unemployment, and if untenured faculty likewise cannot pursue this vein, we end up with tenured faculty who are completely untrained in gender and cultural studies. For many, it is not worth the effort to retrain for an entirely new area of research at that point.
Qualitative Approach The Mynatt et al. paper is afflicted with a fundamental problem common to most accounting research, where articles are motivated by previous studies. In graduate school, we were encouraged to read the accounting literature and see what new little twist we could put on some previous paper. Innovative approaches were discouraged. The Mynatt et al. paper seems to be a slight spin on the Rasch and Harrell (1990) paper it cites. The very tenuous assumptions justifying a presumption that Latinos do not exhibit Type A personalities (pp. 662]663) indicate that fitting the problem to the extant model was a higher priority than was investigat-
Culture and gender in accounting research
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ing the important issues at hand. Research methods should be chosen after an important topic is identified; not the other way around. An initial study in a field, it seems to me, merits some special research approaches. Before quantitative analysis can be done, I think that the issue has to be better understood, and this can best be accomplished through qualitative research (see Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Silverman, 1985). Mynatt et al.’s finding that Latinos and women are clustered at the bottom of the firms is interesting, but their methodology is not designed to address the crucial question: Why? The article cites research which took a more insightful, in-depth approach (e.g. Ciancanelli et al., 1990; Maupin & Lehman, 1994), but the authors did not adopt the approaches of these papers, and their work suffers as a result. It is important that accounting researchers, in order to be credible, develop an expertise and really engage their topics. In their short paper, Mynatt et al. have covered a lot of territory, and the result is a very superficial article. A qualitative approach to the under-representation of women in management or Latinos at all levels of the firms, starting with historical research and interviews with relevant professionals, would make a substantive contribution to the literature.
Concluding Comments Nativism and sexism have played a major role in the history and the shaping of the public accounting industry (see Kirkham & Loft, 1993; Lehman, 1992; Miranti, 1990). Many apologists for the firms would like to say that these problems are a thing of the past, but there is ample contradictory evidence. Recent events at Texaco, where financial managers joked about destroying evidence of discriminatory employment practices, should remind people that negative stereotypes remain entrenched (Smith, 1997). More germane to Latinos in the industry, California’s Proposition 187, which was designed to deny health and education rights to the children of illegal immigrants, passed in 1994 with 59% of the vote. In 1996, 54.5% of California voters supported a measure outlawing affirmative action in state hiring and contracting. Backlashes like these have eroded some of the gains made in the women’s and civil rights movements. We need more incisive research on their impact on our industry; the understanding provided by that research is a necessary antecedent to change.
References American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), The Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits } 1996 (New York: AICPA, 1996a). American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Report on Minority Accounting Graduates, Enrollment and Public Accounting Professionals } 1996 (New York: AICPA, 1996b). Arthur Andersen & Co., The First Sixty Years, (Chicago: Arthur Andersen & Co., 1974).
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DeMond, C., Price, Waterhouse & Co. In America: A History of a Public Accounting Firm (New York: Comet Press, 1951). Ciancanelli, P., Gallhofer, S., Humphrey, C. & Kirkham, L., ‘‘ Gender and Accountancy: Some Evidence from the UK’’, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 1990, pp. 117]144. Glaser, B. & Strauss, A., The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, (Chicago: Aldine, 1967). Hammond, T., ‘‘Some Considerations in Attracting and Retaining African-American Doctoral Candidates in Accounting’’, Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1995, pp. 143]158. Hammond, T., ‘‘From Complete Exclusion to Minimal Inclusion: African Americans and the Public Accounting Industry, 1965]1988’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1997, pp. 29]54. Hammond, T. & Preston, A., ‘‘ Culture, Gender and Corporate Control: Japan as ‘ Other’ ’’. Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 8, 1992, pp. 795]808. Kirkham, L. & Loft, A., ‘‘ Gender and the Construction of the Professional Accountant’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 18, No. 6, 1993, pp. 507]558. Lehman, C., ‘‘ ‘Herstory’ in Accounting: The First Eighty Years’’, Accounting Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 3 / 4, 1992, pp. 261]286. Maupin, R. J. & Lehman, C. R., ‘‘Talking Heads: Stereotypes, Status, Sex-Roles and Satisfaction of Female and Male Auditors’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 19, No. 4., 1994, pp. 427]437. Miranti, P., Accountancy Comes of Age: The Development of an American Profession, 1886 ] 1940 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1990). Mitchell, B., ‘‘The Black Minority in the CPA Profession’’, The Journal of Accountancy, October 1969, pp. 41]48. Rasch, R. & Harrell, A., ‘‘The Impact of Personal Characteristics on the Turnover Behavior of Accounting Professionals’’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory Vol. 9, No. 2., 1990, pp. 90]102. Scudder, L., Accountancy as a Career (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1939). Silverman, D., Qualitative Methodology and Sociology: Describing the Social World (Brookfield, VT: Gower, 1985). Smith, E., ‘‘Playing the Corporate Race Card’’, Black Enterprise, January 1997, p. 194. Stevens, M., The Big Eight (New York: Macmillan, 1981).
CULTURE AND GENDER IN ACCOUNTING RESEARCH: GOING BEYOND MYNATT ET AL. THERESA DAVIS HAMMOND Department of Accounting, Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167, USA
Accounting research suffers from a lack of attention to culture and gender issues. In particular, no in-depth research which explores Latinos in the accounting profession has been undertaken. Such research would challenge prevailing notions of equality of opportunity in the profession and would take a qualitative approach to investigating the persistent under-representation of people of color among accountants.
Q
1997 Academic Press Limited
Introduction Both culture and gender are under-explored topics in the accounting literature. In particular, no substantive examinations of Latinos in the accounting industry have been published. While we should welcome work that addresses these issues, certain qualities fundamental to insightful research into the demographics of certified public accountants are missing from the Mynatt et al. work (pp. 675]683). This discussion focuses on the elements I consider essential to good critical work on culture, gender and accounting to encourage others to undertake projects in this area. Such studies should consider the appropriate motivation for research on culture and gender, the danger of accepting the status quo as ‘‘normal’’, the historical context in which difference arises, heterogeneity within groups, the intersection of demographic ‘‘ variables’’, what perspective the authors bring to the issue, and the suitability of qualitative versus quantitative methodology. These issues are discussed in the following pages.
Motivation What constitutes an appropriate motivation for a critical article on accounting? Certainly, one appropriate motivation would be a concern about the homogeneity of the United States accounting industry, where 96% of partners in CPA firms (95% in firms with over 200 professionals) Received 3 January 1997; revised 17 July 1997; accepted 29 July 1997
685 1045-2354/ 97 / 060685+ 08 $25.00 / 0 / pa970162
Q 1997
Academic Press Limited
686
T. D. Hammond
are white and 84% (93% in the largest firms) are men (AICPA, 1996a). Unfortunately, while Mynatt et al. point out the fact that culture and gender have been understudied, they do not provide innovative analysis that could be used to counter discrimination in the industry. Instead they model their paper on previous attempts to quantify the causes of turnover among accountants, adding variables on gender and culture to old models. Since Mynatt et al. is the first paper to explicitly address Latinos in accounting, it is disappointing that their approach is so limited. What is also disappointing, especially in a paper ostensibly targeted towards Critical Perspectives on Accounting, is the way Mynatt et al. unquestionably adopt the perspective of the accounting industry. The paper is motivated by a concern for attracting and retaining qualified employees into accounting, and considers the changing demographics of the United States as a challenge that complicates this process. A critical approach would question the assumption that the ‘‘problem’’ lies with the applicants, rather than with the firms. But, like most accounting literature, Mynatt et al. do not even acknowledge the assumptions that underlie the paper. Their paper questions why Latinos do not choose accounting, but does not even address the possibility that accounting firms are not choosing to hire Latinos. Instead of asking how the public accounting industry is going to deal with the changing nature of its work compounded by the changing demographics among workers, authors who genuinely want to provide insights into the field should examine the conditions that led to the homogeneity that exists today. What is it about the history of the accounting industry that has led to its being one of the least inclusive professions in the United States? What are the implications for this lack of diversity on the kinds of projects accountants undertake and the quality of the work they produce? Instead of describing the changing demographics as a ‘‘problem’’, authors should consider the possibility that a long-overdue change could energize a moribund industry.
Women and Latinos as ‘‘Other’’ Everyone has gender and culture, but most conventional approaches in accounting research, including Mynatt et al., assume that men are the ‘‘neutral’’ gender and Anglo-Americans are the ‘‘neutral’’ culture. Accordingly, women and non-Anglo-Americans are treated as ‘‘problems’’ who must be studied, comprehended, and, ideally, adjusted to fit into the ‘‘neutral’’, dominant group. In Mynatt et al., women and Latinos are considered the ‘‘other’’}those outside the main group. A critical approach to culture and gender would challenge the very notion of a group that more naturally belongs in the industry. In contrast, when Mynatt et al. discover that Latino CPAs display no difference in Type A behavior from Anglo-American CPAs, they conclude that because the Latinos they studied live in majority-Latino communities they are more
Culture and gender in accounting research
687
free to exhibit Type A behavior. Mynatt et al. uncritically assume that, given the chance, Latinos would naturally want to become more like Anglo-Americans, since they, implicitly, are the ‘‘normal’’ group.
Historical Context In my opinion, an effective critical study should include an analysis of the history of the composition of the profession. While some excellent research has been conducted on women in accounting (e.g. Kirkham & Loft, 1993; Lehman, 1992), the groundwork on Latinos has yet to be laid. Internal data on firms are very difficult to access, but there are some data on Latinos in the accounting industry that provide a good starting point for research on the subject. According to a recent AICPA report (1996b), Latinos make up 7% of accounting majors, only 5% of accounting graduates, and only 3% of new hires into public accounting in the United States. Mynatt et al. refers to Latinos ‘‘self-selecting’’ accounting, but these statistics indicate that something else is transpiring. Many Latinos clearly select accounting majors, but what reduces the number who graduate with their intended major? And why are they under-represented among accounting firm hires? The AICPA data also reveal that, while the percentage of Latinos among accountants employed by major public accounting firms grew slowly but steadily during the 1980s, their representation among public accounting hires as a percentage of accounting graduates was significantly lower throughout the 1980s than it was in the late 1970s. Perhaps, as happened with African Americans (see Hammond, 1997), recruitment of Latinos dropped in the 1980s due to declining public pressure to diversify the professions. According to the Survey of Earned Doctorates, only eight Latinos earned their Ph.D.s in Accounting between 1983 and 1992 which, at 0.6% of all Accounting Ph.D.s granted during the period, is even lower than the paltry representation of African Americans among the same group. Of those eight, only three were Mexican-American, despite the fact that Mexican Americans constitute the largest group of Latinos in the United States. Latinos are more under-represented among accounting Ph.D.s than they are in Finance, Management, or Marketing. An examination of the under-representation of Latinos in accounting might include study of their exclusion from Ph.D. programs as well as the importance of Latino faculty mentors and role models in enhancing opportunities for Latino accounting graduates. In addition to gathering the available data on Latinos in the profession, consideration needs to be given to wider social, historical, and political issues. Mynatt et al. recognize that Latinos constitute the fastest-growing cultural group in the United States, at 6.4% of the United States population in 1980 and 9.0% 10 years later. Like Anglo-Americans, Latinos are not a monolithic group. A Cuban American who arrived in the United States in the 1950s may have very little in
688
T. D. Hammond
common with a Central American who arrived in the 1980s. Mynatt et al. acknowledge that gender is culturally specific, the does not give equal care to its analysis of Latinos. Treating the as a homogeneous unit facilitates stereotyping and exclusion (see mond & Preston, 1992).
While paper group Ham-
Heterogeneity Among ‘‘Hispanics’’ Unfortunately, generalizations pervade the Mynatt et al. paper. Statements such as ‘‘Hispanics view work as a necessity for survival but not as a value in itself’’ and ‘‘...It is much more valuable for Hispanics to experience things directly through intellectual awareness and emotional experiences than indirectly through past accomplishments and accumulations of wealth’’ (p. 662), are overly simplistic and remarkably convenient for an industry in which Latinos are so severely under-represented. While cultural differences are important and worthy of exploration, the recitation of generalizations about Latinos in Mynatt et al. seems gratuitous, particularly since these ‘‘ variables’’ are ultimately determined to be insignificant. Consideration needs to be given to the stereotypes of Latinos and their impact on Latinos’ experiences in accounting. From the earliest days of public accounting, many firms did not want to hire African Americans or women ostensibly because they were concerned that their clients would be offended by having anyone other than a white male examine their financial records (e.g. Mitchell, 1969). In Accountancy as a Career, Scudder explains the lack of opportunities for women by stating ‘‘[B]usiness has been a man’s realm. He feels embarrassed to seek advice from a professional woman regarding matters which it has been customary for men to handle’’ (1939, p. 70). An examination of the histories of state certified public accountants, as well as those of firms reveals a difference between the experiences of Latinos and those of African Americans and women. These histories often list the names of Latino accountants dating back to the 1930s; however, these partners all worked in Mexico, Central or South America, or Puerto Rico (e.g. Arthur Andersen & Co., 1974; DeMond, 1951). Perhaps the acceptance of Latinos in international offices led to an easier acceptance of some Latino accountants within the major United States offices of the firms. Nevertheless, in majority-owned CPA firms, only 0.29% of partners are Latino (AICPA, 1996b). An exploration of this unique history, including examination of which Latino groups were more welcome in the firms, would add to our understanding of the history of Latinos in the profession. In addition to the variation within the group ‘‘Latino’’, there is immense regional variation in experience. Mynatt et al. acknowledge that the cities they study, El Paso and San Antonio, have majority Latino populations and that the experiences of their subjects differ from those of Latino accounting professionals in other cities. However, they seem to
Culture and gender in accounting research
689
miss the point when they describe the effect of being in the majority on the Latinos they survey. The authors remark on the success of Latino accountants in these cities, noting that they constitute 12% of their sample, which is higher than Latino representation in the United States (9% in 1990). However, when you consider that the study was conducted in cities with majority Latino populations, 12% seems low. Even the choice of the term ‘‘Hispanic’’ warrants explanation. Various groups use various labels, and there are political histories and social consequences to the choice of labels. I use ‘‘Latino’’ because I ‘‘came of age’’ on these issues while living in a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in San Francisco in the early 1980s, where ‘‘Latino’’ was the preferred term. However, I recently attended a meeting of accounting doctoral students of color in Chicago, and I was booed when I suggested the use of the term ‘‘Latino’’ instead of ‘‘Hispanic’’. Who decides what terms are used? And what is their significance? An understanding of these issues is central to an understanding of Latinos in the profession.
Intersection of Culture and Gender The paper does not examine the intersection of gender and culture. Do Latinas have different experiences than Anglo-American women? What are the commonalities and differences between Latina and Latino experience? Most of the Anglo-American men who dominate the profession have Anglo-American mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. This might mean that they are more comfortable with Anglo-American women in the workplace than they are with Latinos. The number of Anglo-American women entering public accounting grew dramatically throughout the 1980s, while the hiring rate of Latinos dropped. On the other hand, Anglo-American males may feel more paternalistic towards Anglo-American female employees. Perhaps many accounting managers are comfortable with neither, as reflected in this quote from The Big Eight (Stevens, 1981): ‘‘ ‘They really were the good old days back when I was an active partner’, says a retired Big Eight auditor ... ‘It was a gentleman’s business, that’s what I liked about it. Now its like the [United Nations] there ... Now if you want to tell a joke, you have to look around the table first. One of your partners may be Negro, Spanish, a Jew, or a woman. You know how sensitive they are’ ’’ (p. 22).
This perception is particularly revealing since CPA firms do not look anything like the United Nations. As revealed in Mynatt et al., even in Texas cities with majority Latino populations, the survey showed only 12% Latinos among the certified public accountants, Nationwide, 95% of CPAs who work for CPA firms are white, 2.4% are Asian American, 1.6% are Latino, 0.7% are African American, and 31% are female (AICPA, 1996a& b).
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Authors’ Perspective Multiple-authored research is more common in accounting than in many other fields, and this is a potential source of enrichment. Mynatt et al. appear to have missed this opportunity; it is impossible to determine whether there is a variety of perspectives among the authors, because the authors do not reveal what drew them to this subject. What personal experiences do the authors bring to bear? Are any of them Latino? Did the women work in public accounting, and did their experiences there lead to their interest in this topic? The University of Texas at El Paso has a large proportion of Mexican American students; did students’ experiences underlie the interest in this subject? Did the authors contact the Hispanic Society of CPAs or other organizations that address the composition of the profession? While there would be clear benefits to having Latino accounting professors conduct research in this area, there may be obstacles. Those who conduct research on gender or racial issues in accounting are often discouraged by their employers (in severe but not uncommon cases through the denial of tenure) or doctoral advisors from doing so. In my paper on African American doctoral students in accounting (Hammond, 1995), I found that many of the students were interested in doing research on the under-representation of African Americans in public accounting, but none believed that it was a safe avenue for research if they wanted to be gainfully employed upon completion of their Ph.D.s. Likewise, untenured faculty do not want to be stigmatized by their research. I have met many women who believe they were regarded unfavorably in the tenure process because of their interest in gender research. This pervasive discouragement is very successful in ensuring that accounting faculty confine themselves to research that does not challenge the status quo. If doctoral students cannot do cultural or gender research for fear of unemployment, and if untenured faculty likewise cannot pursue this vein, we end up with tenured faculty who are completely untrained in gender and cultural studies. For many, it is not worth the effort to retrain for an entirely new area of research at that point.
Qualitative Approach The Mynatt et al. paper is afflicted with a fundamental problem common to most accounting research, where articles are motivated by previous studies. In graduate school, we were encouraged to read the accounting literature and see what new little twist we could put on some previous paper. Innovative approaches were discouraged. The Mynatt et al. paper seems to be a slight spin on the Rasch and Harrell (1990) paper it cites. The very tenuous assumptions justifying a presumption that Latinos do not exhibit Type A personalities (pp. 662]663) indicate that fitting the problem to the extant model was a higher priority than was investigat-
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ing the important issues at hand. Research methods should be chosen after an important topic is identified; not the other way around. An initial study in a field, it seems to me, merits some special research approaches. Before quantitative analysis can be done, I think that the issue has to be better understood, and this can best be accomplished through qualitative research (see Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Silverman, 1985). Mynatt et al.’s finding that Latinos and women are clustered at the bottom of the firms is interesting, but their methodology is not designed to address the crucial question: Why? The article cites research which took a more insightful, in-depth approach (e.g. Ciancanelli et al., 1990; Maupin & Lehman, 1994), but the authors did not adopt the approaches of these papers, and their work suffers as a result. It is important that accounting researchers, in order to be credible, develop an expertise and really engage their topics. In their short paper, Mynatt et al. have covered a lot of territory, and the result is a very superficial article. A qualitative approach to the under-representation of women in management or Latinos at all levels of the firms, starting with historical research and interviews with relevant professionals, would make a substantive contribution to the literature.
Concluding Comments Nativism and sexism have played a major role in the history and the shaping of the public accounting industry (see Kirkham & Loft, 1993; Lehman, 1992; Miranti, 1990). Many apologists for the firms would like to say that these problems are a thing of the past, but there is ample contradictory evidence. Recent events at Texaco, where financial managers joked about destroying evidence of discriminatory employment practices, should remind people that negative stereotypes remain entrenched (Smith, 1997). More germane to Latinos in the industry, California’s Proposition 187, which was designed to deny health and education rights to the children of illegal immigrants, passed in 1994 with 59% of the vote. In 1996, 54.5% of California voters supported a measure outlawing affirmative action in state hiring and contracting. Backlashes like these have eroded some of the gains made in the women’s and civil rights movements. We need more incisive research on their impact on our industry; the understanding provided by that research is a necessary antecedent to change.
References American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), The Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits } 1996 (New York: AICPA, 1996a). American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Report on Minority Accounting Graduates, Enrollment and Public Accounting Professionals } 1996 (New York: AICPA, 1996b). Arthur Andersen & Co., The First Sixty Years, (Chicago: Arthur Andersen & Co., 1974).
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DeMond, C., Price, Waterhouse & Co. In America: A History of a Public Accounting Firm (New York: Comet Press, 1951). Ciancanelli, P., Gallhofer, S., Humphrey, C. & Kirkham, L., ‘‘ Gender and Accountancy: Some Evidence from the UK’’, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 1990, pp. 117]144. Glaser, B. & Strauss, A., The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, (Chicago: Aldine, 1967). Hammond, T., ‘‘Some Considerations in Attracting and Retaining African-American Doctoral Candidates in Accounting’’, Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1995, pp. 143]158. Hammond, T., ‘‘From Complete Exclusion to Minimal Inclusion: African Americans and the Public Accounting Industry, 1965]1988’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1997, pp. 29]54. Hammond, T. & Preston, A., ‘‘ Culture, Gender and Corporate Control: Japan as ‘ Other’ ’’. Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 8, 1992, pp. 795]808. Kirkham, L. & Loft, A., ‘‘ Gender and the Construction of the Professional Accountant’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 18, No. 6, 1993, pp. 507]558. Lehman, C., ‘‘ ‘Herstory’ in Accounting: The First Eighty Years’’, Accounting Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 3 / 4, 1992, pp. 261]286. Maupin, R. J. & Lehman, C. R., ‘‘Talking Heads: Stereotypes, Status, Sex-Roles and Satisfaction of Female and Male Auditors’’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 19, No. 4., 1994, pp. 427]437. Miranti, P., Accountancy Comes of Age: The Development of an American Profession, 1886 ] 1940 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1990). Mitchell, B., ‘‘The Black Minority in the CPA Profession’’, The Journal of Accountancy, October 1969, pp. 41]48. Rasch, R. & Harrell, A., ‘‘The Impact of Personal Characteristics on the Turnover Behavior of Accounting Professionals’’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory Vol. 9, No. 2., 1990, pp. 90]102. Scudder, L., Accountancy as a Career (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1939). Silverman, D., Qualitative Methodology and Sociology: Describing the Social World (Brookfield, VT: Gower, 1985). Smith, E., ‘‘Playing the Corporate Race Card’’, Black Enterprise, January 1997, p. 194. Stevens, M., The Big Eight (New York: Macmillan, 1981).