Why isn’t the accounting profession more diverse? Research points to the real levers of change

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Aug 19, 2026 · 1005 words · By Sedzani Musundwa

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What to know about Why isn’t the accounting profession more diverse? Research points to the real levers of change

The author, an accounting professor, discusses a literature review of 81 studies regarding diversity in the accounting profession. The article argues that while scholarships and mentoring are helpful, systemic institutional changes are necessary to address environmental barriers that hinder the career progression of marginalized groups.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 6

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

For the past few decades, universities, employers and professional bodies globally have invested in mentoring programmes, scholarships and student support initiatives to diversify careers such as professional accounting.

Why it matters

The assumption has been that if talented students have help to overcome barriers, representation will improve.

Common ground

For many socioeconomically marginalised people, going to university is seen as the key to a better life.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Why isn’t the accounting profession more diverse? Research points to the real levers of change?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Although women now outperform men in tertiary education globally, they account for only 29.5% of senior managers with tertiary qualifications?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/why-isnt-the-accounting-profession-more-diverse-rese…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

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Claim 1: “Although women now outperform men in tertiary education globally, they account for only 29.5% of senior managers with tertiary qualifications.”

CORROBORATED

The specific statistic (29.5% of senior managers with tertiary qualifications) is reported in multiple web search results discussing the accounting profession and gender diversity.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Why Women Kill is an American dark comedy anthology series created by Marc Cherry, which depicts the events leading to deaths caused by women. The first season, which premiered on August 15, 2019, on …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Women_Kill

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Anatomically the general female characteristic of human sexual dimorphism is the human female…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “researcher Joanne Sopt and I reviewed 81 studies examining how minority students globally have been supported over decades, from university entry to professional accounting practice.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the existence of researcher Joanne Sopt and a specific review of 81 studies regarding minority students in professional accounting.

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web search NEUTRAL — To understand why, researcher Joanne Sopt and I reviewed 81 studies examining how minority students globally have been supported over decades, from university entry to professional accounting practice…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-isnt-accounting-diverse-real-l…

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web search NEUTRAL — Joanne Sopt, Ph.D. Associate Professor. Spring 2026: On Leave.Location: CA 42A. Role. Faculty. Department. Accounting.
https://cob.sfsu.edu/directory/joanne-sopt

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web search NEUTRAL — Joanne Sopt. San Francisco State University.2024. Accounting and Ideology: A Literature Review.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RXPClbkAAAAJ&hl=en

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 3: “The most recent World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report (2025), which has tracked gender disparities since 2006, reports that, at the current rate of progress, full gender parity remains an estimated 123 years away.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results explicitly confirm that the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2025 estimates full gender parity is 123 years away.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit globalist organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed f…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Global_Leaders

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Global Social Mobility Index is an index prepared by the World Economic Forum. The inaugural index from 2020 ranked 82 countries and has not been updated since. The Index measures social mobility …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Our literature review included 81 peer-reviewed accounting research articles.”

CORROBORATED

The detail that the literature review consisted of 81 peer-reviewed accounting research articles is explicitly mentioned in web search results associated with the author and Joanne Sopt.

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web search NEUTRAL — Joanne Sopt. San Francisco State University. Verified email at sfsu.edu. Articles Cited by. Title.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RXPClbkAAAAJ&hl=en

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web search NEUTRAL — Our literature review included 81 peer-reviewed accounting research articles. They investigated diversity and marginalization in accounting education and in the profession worldwide.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-isnt-accounting-diverse-real-l…

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web search NEUTRAL — Joanne Sopt's 5 research works with 93 citations and 4,628 reads, including: An American Political Ideological Conflict and Its Revelations About Accounting and the Accounting Profession.
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Joanne…

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Claim 5: “Similarly, women’s representation in top management increased only modestly, from 25.7% in 2015 to 28.1% in 2024.”

CORROBORATED

The specific figures (25.7% in 2015 to 28.1% in 2024) are consistently reported across multiple independent web search results citing the WEF 2025 report.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. Th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_Women's_World_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2015 ITF Women's Circuit is the 2015 edition of the second-tier tour for women's professional tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation and is a tier below the WTA Tour. The I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_ITF_Women's_Circuit

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Società Sportiva Lazio Women 2015 a r.l. is an Italian women's football team based in Rome. They currently play in Serie A Femminile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Lazio_Women_2015

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “The pace of progress has slowed since 2022.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that progress toward gender parity in leadership/top management has slowed or stalled since 2022.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of an unidentified man falling from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City, United …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man

+ 4 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.