Black Talent Charter
BLACK MEMBERS COMMUNITY
ICAEW Black Talent Charter update report 2022
- 01 Dec 2023
- PDF (821kb)
- Black Members Community
Progress updates on ICAEW's work to support the Charter for Black Talent in Finance and the Professions. It examines progress towards on the initial targets for the years 2021 and 2022 planned actions for 2023.
ICAEW is first professional body to sign Black Talent Charter
- 16 Dec 2020
17 December 2020: ICAEW has become the first professional body to sign up to a new City Charter which calls for more representation of Black professionals at senior levels.
BLACK MEMBERS COMMUNITY
Improving opportunities for Black talent in the profession
- 15 Dec 2021
- ICAEW
As part of ICAEW's commitment to The Charter for Black Talent in Finance and the Professions, ICAEW has produced an action plan to increase the presence of Black talent in finance and the professions.
Mapping out Finance Careers for young Black talent
- 11 Oct 2021
- ICAEW Insights
As part of its ongoing efforts to attract diverse talent to the profession, ICAEW sponsored an event featuring honest conversations about being a Black student and professional within the industry.
UK government facts and figures
UK government facts and figures on ethnicity.
Regional ethnic diversity
- 16 Jan 2023
Regional ethnic diversity - GOV.UK Ethnicity facts and figures.
10,000 Black Interns
Initiative from ICAEW and leading firms in the accountancy sector committed to transforming the horizons of young Black professionals in the UK.
Industry press
The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides a hand-picked collection of industry press articles as a benefit of ICAEW membership. If you are unable to access an article, please see our Online resources troubleshooting or contact library@icaew.com.
Exclusive
Black chartered accountants in post-apartheid South Africa: Global implications for the profession
- Article
- 01 Mar 2024
- Theresa A.Hammond, Sedzani Musundwa
Although South Africa’s Apartheid system legally ended with the advent of democracy in 1994, by 2021 only 15% of chartered accountants were Black. The authors examine this underrepresentation through interviews with 22 Black South Africans who earned their chartered accountancy certification in the second decade of the 21st century. While the officially mandated educational and employment barriers that previous generations faced have been dismantled, the authors found that aspiring Black accountants continue to face immense barriers to entering the profession.
Exclusive
The power of one: A memorial to Dr.Larzette Golden Hale (1920-2015)
- Article
- 01 Dec 2023
- Brandi L.Holley, LaToya L.Flint
This paper memorializes a remarkable figure in accounting history and showcases the power of one individual to impact society. Although Dr. Larzette Golden Hale was the first Black female certified public accountant (CPA) to also earn a Ph.D. in accounting, her influence stretched far beyond these lofty accomplishments. Her life's work as an accounting educator is even more impressive considering the systemic obstacles to achievement faced by both Black people and women of the time.
Exclusive
Microaggressions in the Accounting Academy: The Black experience
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
- Phebian L.Davis, Denise Dickins, Julia L.Higgs, Joseph Reid
Black Americans are underrepresented members of the US accounting academy. By interviewing Black accounting faculty about their experiences during their doctoral education and institutional hiring and promotion processes, the authors have discovered stories of degradation, stereotyping, and exclusion (i.e., microaggressions) that participants report negatively impact their views of the academic accounting profession and increase their turnover intentions.
Exclusive
Walter Davenport: Overcoming racism
- Article
- 01 Apr 2023
- Vanessa Infanzon
The story of certified public accountant (CPA) Walter Conaway Davenport, who overcame racism to make his way into some of North Carolina's most powerful boardrooms.
Exclusive
How the UK tech industry is failing Black women
- Article
- 07 Feb 2023
- Doug Drinkwater
Passed over for promotion and struggling to fit into workplace cultures, Black women in technology see little progress in an industry fixated on diversity optics rather than inclusion. The article features quotes from more than a dozen Black women working in technology roles, who spoke to CIO.com on the back of a British Computer Society (BCS) and Coding Black Females (CBF) 2022 report - 'The Experiences of Black Women in the IT Industry'.
Exclusive
Life experiences of a Black accounting student and faculty member
- Article
- 01 Feb 2023
- Mark C.Dawkins
Mark C.Dawkins discusses his life experiences as a Black student studying accounting at several predominantly white institutions and then as a Black accounting faculty member serving for 28 years. He includes some personal thoughts, memories and experiences, with the aim of providing some insights about the need for and benefits derived from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, initiatives and programs for accounting students.
Exclusive
The scarcity of Black accountants
- Article
- 01 Jul 2022
- Edwrd Mendlowitz
Everyone has a role to play in diversifying the profession, says Ed Mendlowitz. He calls attention to the recent accomplishments of two Black CPAs and makes suggestions for encouraging Black people into the profession. Accountants can help by speaking to high schools, providing role models in their firms, being an ambassador and hiring paid summer interns.
Exclusive
Smoke and mirrors: Race and the Black CPA
- Article
- 01 Dec 2021
- Anton Lewis
This article by associate accounting professor Dr Anton Lewis seeks to reconcile recent pledges of racial equity made by accounting firms and the profession generally to racial reality. Given the state of play where race and racism are concerned, can accounting really fulfil its promises and make itself more equitable in the long term?
Terms of use
You are permitted to access articles subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.
Articles and books in the Library collection
The ICAEW Library & Information Service holds a print collection of over 45,000 books and around 160 current professional journals. For information on borrowing books from the Library please contact us or see our guide to book loans. You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.
A white-collar profession: African American certified public accountants since 1921
- Library book
- 2002
- P.Whitcomb
- University of North Carolina
This book chronicles the stories of several of the pioneering African American men and women who managed to surmount the obstacles to becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and whose history has been all but ignored.
Useful links - podcasts, videos and articles
Selected links to podcasts, videos and articles relevant to Black accountants.
Black CPA Centennial: Video interviews
- Website
- ICPAS
Living history videos bringing to life and preserving the inspiring stories of success against the odds of some of the most prominent and trailblazing Black accountants. The HistoryMakers is a non-profit research and educational institution committed to preserving and making widely accessible the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African Americans.
Counting Black and White Beans Podcast
- Website
- Dr Anton Lewis
This podcast series by Dr Anton Lewis explores race and racism in accounting and the business world in general. The concept of Critical Race Theory is used as the primary way to explore how racial inequality exists in modern commerce today.
DEI, racism & prejudice in accounting with Anton Lewis
- Website
An episode from the Accounting Influencers podcast, featuring Anton Lewis, a tenured Associate Professor of Accounting at Valparaiso University, Indiana. Lewis primarily teaches undergraduate financial accountancy and managerial accountancy, as well as undergraduate Audit and Accounting Information Systems classes. He also hosts the ‘Counting Black and White Beans Podcast'.
The struggles and triumphs of the first Black CPAs
- Website
- Journal of Accountancy
A two-episode podcast taking a look at the remarkable accomplishments of Black Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the US during the 20th century, featuring the testimony of two CPAs who witnessed Black CPA history firsthand: Ruth Harris, the first Black female CPA in Virginia, and Frank Ross, one of the founders of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Theresa Hammond, Ph.D., author of the book 'A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921', adds historical context.
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