April 2000

Minority Role Models Encourage Profession's Diversity

By Malaika Danovitz

In 1977, Pat Adams was one of only a few African Americans studying accounting at Pace University. She graduated in 1982 and began her career at Arthur Andersen.

"My family was always business oriented and it just seemed like the natural thing to do," she said.

Now as a CPA and director of marketing and sales at Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Adams acknowledges that her family background may not be the same as many of her peers. She said the lack of role models is one reason for the small percentage of minorities in the accounting profession. According to the most recent AICPA statistics, a 1997 study found that minorities represent only 6 percent of CPAs in public accounting, and only 1 percent are African American.

Ian Nelson, one of two African Americans on the NYSSCPA board of directors, also attributes his professional career path to exposure to accounting at an early age. At 16, Nelson worked at a bank in Kingston, Jamaica, where he first met accountants. He immigrated to the United States in 1974 and eventually pursued a degree in accounting. He now has his own CPA practice, specializing in tax preparation and planning and consulting to small businesses.

"I think our profession needs to get out there in the community and demonstrate firsthand the greatness and brilliance that we have," Nelson said. "A lot of minority kids have no idea what CPAs do."

Encouraging a more diverse profession is a priority for the NYSSCPA and AICPA, as well as minority-based organizations such as the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). All three groups have programs specifically designed to expose minority students to accounting careers.

"It's a game of catch-up, not only due to the lack of minorities in the profession, but also because we are in competition with other financial careers that look more exciting on the surface," said Gregory Johnson, AICPA manager of minority initiatives.

Johnson, also an African American CPA, has firsthand knowledge of the challenges the profession faces in attracting minorities. After starting his career in public accounting at Coopers and Lybrand, he held a technical position in the AICPA's peer review division before the Institute asked him in 1994 to take the newly created position to help expand its minority outreach programs. Johnson oversees a minority scholarship program; develops targeted recruitment campaigns; and works with AICPA members, state societies, NABA, and other groups to encourage diversity in the profession.

Among the more recent AICPA initiatives is a print advertising campaign started a year and a half ago targeted toward young people and minorities. The campaign features sports stars and celebrities pictured with their CPAs to spur interest among young students. A toll-free line offers career information and serves as a response mechanism to evaluate the campaign's effectiveness. The AICPA currently is compiling statistics on the results.

Other programs take a more direct approach to reach minority students. The NYSSCPA's Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP), for example, exposes minority high school juniors to the CPA profession through a five-day summer residency on a college campus. Students take courses in accounting, business, and personal development and attend field trips to CPA firms, companies, and other businesses. (See the related story on this page.) COAP features successful minority role models and provides ongoing academic and career guidance. Founded in 1987, the program started with 24 students and now has almost 100 graduates each summer.

Adams, who chairs the COAP advisory board, said the program works at the grass roots to promote the benefits of the CPA profession and reach students before they make decisions about their career paths.

"We need more programs like COAP," she said. "It's still a very small dot in the entire picture, and there is a lot more follow-up we need to do if we only had more resources."

In addition to NYSSCPA funding, donations from individuals, accounting firms, and corporations support the program. COAP has its roots in a program first developed by NABA's Seattle chapter, and NABA sponsors similar residencies at several colleges across the country. NABA also has a strong network of student affiliate chapters at colleges nationwide and implements a number of other initiatives, including a scholarship program, to help minority accounting students and provide positive role models.

"We're a living example of what minorities can do in the business," said Bert Mitchell, chair and one of the founders of Mitchell and Titus LLP, the largest minority-controlled CPA firm in the United States.

Mitchell, a former NYSSCPA president, frequently speaks to young students about opportunities in the profession. His firm also supports COAP financially, and one of his partners serves on the advisory board.

Adams points to COAP as a step in the right direction but joins Nelson in believing that the profession as a whole needs to do more to promote CPA careers and encourage diversity.