Daniel Hobson, manager of minority initiatives for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), said the results surprised him, also. However, he added, the poll �may not be scientific, but it reflects how they feel. Their perception is their reality.�

Overall, about 10 percent of professionals working at accounting firms are minorities, according to the AICPA�s Supply Of Accounting Graduates And the Demand For Public Accounting Recruits - 2005, more commonly referred to as �The Supply and Demand Report.� To increase diversity, the organization encourages minority students to pursue accounting as a career. In 2005, it awarded $425,000 worth of scholarships to minority students on the accounting track, Hobson said.

In 2004, about 23 percent of the new graduates hired by accounting firms were minorities, says the Supply and Demand report. That constitutes a 5 percent increase from 2003. However, the report says just 3 percent of the new graduates hired were African-American, a 5 percent decrease from 2003. Twelve percent were Asian/Pacific Islanders, up from 9 percent in 2003. Another 8 percent were Hispanic or Latino, up from 4 percent. Overall, Hobson says, �We haven�t turned it around to where we want it to be.�

Simmons sees the snap poll�s results as �a powerful indicator companies have to do more.� To be effective, diversity programs need to have accountability �all the way up and down the line,� he believes, with both managers and employees pursuing goals and being held accountable for their progress.

Reader Comments

The lack of diversity is not a sole challenge for the Accounting profession. Over the past twenty seven years in the Insurance profession, Home Office, Division Level, Regional Level and Local Management is not diversified as it should. If one considers the lack of ethnic diversity in leadership positions and add the widespread discrimination in regard to age, the challenge is even greater.

-LB

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I am writing to tell you how much I appreciated the article, 'Are Companies Serious About Divrsity?' I remember when you wrote about the shortage of accountants in the private sector. I believe the shortage could be dramatically reduced by diversity. I am an African-American with an accounting degree, and it has been difficult getting hired. When you are hired, it seems that you are the only minority in the department. Until management gets serious about diversity, a shortage will always occur.

Thanks,

-VA

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Given that this entrepreneur is a black man, what would he say if I were asking for �financial professionals� who look like me. (White). When are we going to admit that needs for financial security transcend race and color? Money is neither black nor white, right?

A fellow toastmaster in my club is a VP at Merrill Lynch in New York. He doesn�t seem to have a hang up with race or color. And he is black. I guess I wonder why we have a Black Entertainment Television, too.

Maybe I am just �Anti Political Correctness�.

Bob