Evaluation

Top accountancy firms have vowed to continue to make the profession more diverse, as a new report benchmarks the background of recruits for the first time (Thursday 11 November).

The report – from the charity Access Accountancy – examines the socio-economic backgrounds of people who applied for jobs at 10 accountancy firms and organisations in 2018/19 and 2019/20.[1][2]  

One of Access Accountancy’s functions is to provide work experience opportunities for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, so they can experience accountancy and learn about careers in the profession. It aims for these placements to translate into jobs for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and so is broadening its focus to look at recruitment practices and support new recruits into the profession.

As part of this, the report marks the first time Access Accountancy has reported publicly on the backgrounds of people hired by firms. Its findings will be used to benchmark performance and for a future diversity strategy.

Access Accountancy’s member organisations will in future be held to account for hiring and progression. The charity said its work experience programme had had a positive impact but it recognised there was still more to do.

The report found that in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 three-quarters of applicants for jobs with Access Accountancy organisations had attended state school; two in five had parents without degrees; and one in six had received or been eligible for income support or free school meals.[3]

The research also highlighted that job offers were more likely to be made to people who identified as White, and to applicants whose families did not receive income support or free school meals. Many member organisations are already working to attract and retain Black talent by supporting initiatives such as 10,000 Black Interns, The Black Talent Charter, and being involved in events such as Celebrating Black Heritage in Business and Accounting.

Meanwhile, 45% of applicants were female and 55% male, compared to 51% and 49% of the population respectively. The report found that 56% of hires were male.

Member organisations have pledged to take on more people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and have made changes to the way that they assess applicants. For example, some firms have scrapped A-Level requirements for some roles and have introduced contextualised and strengths-based recruitment, to evaluate applicants on more than their academic results, which are often likely to be lower for people from low socio-economic backgrounds.

The report also includes data from work experience programmes which took place between September 2019 and August 2020 at six member organisations. It found that 96% of the young people who took part attended a state school, 38% attended a school that had above the regional average of students eligible for free school meals, 38% would be the first in their family to go to university, and 27% were eligible for free school meals.[4]

Almost all of the work experience students said they were made more aware of careers in accountancy, while nine in 10 said they were ‘very much’ or ‘possibly’ interested in an accountancy career.[5]

Sharon Spice, Access Accountancy Chair, said:

“While this report shows there is still more to do to make accountancy truly reflective of the population, firms are already working hard in this area. What is very encouraging is the impact students feel Access Accountancy work experience has on them when they are given the opportunity. We need to keep building on this with our current member organisations, but also by encouraging more organisations to get involved and ensure work experience placements translate into job opportunities.

“We know that accountancy is a profession for everyone, and to shift the dial on social mobility we will do everything we can to support our Access Accountancy signatories, which includes sharing best practice so we can improve and do more.

“A diverse workforce benefits everyone, so we’ll continue to challenge each other to collect and report data and use this to further improve hiring practices, so accountancy is accessible to all.”

Two accountancy professional bodies also submitted data on their student members. This showed that four in five new student members in 2018-19 and 2019-20 attended state school; just under half had parents without university degrees; and the families of 13% in 2018-19 and 15% in 2019-20 were in receipt of income support or free school meals.[6]

1. Organisations which submitted information for the report are: BDO, Deloitte, Duncan Toplis, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Kreston Reeves, MHA MacIntyre Hudson, National Audit Office, Price Bailey, PwC.
2. The report was compiled by the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to promote social equality.
3. 74% of applicants had attended a state school, 41% had parents without university degrees, and 17% had been in receipt or eligible for income support or free school meals.
4. Students who took part in the work experience programme were in year 10, 11, 12 or 13 (the exact year depends on the firm).
5. 99% of young people who took part in work experience reported an increase in their awareness of careers in professional services and accountancy, and 91% said they were ‘very much’ or ‘possibly’ interested in an accountancy career.
6. 79% of new student members in 2018-19 and 80% in 2019-20 had attended a state school, 48% in 2018-19 and 46% in 2019-20 had parents with no experience of higher education.
7. Access Accountancy member organisations are: AAT, Abcam, the Association of International Accountants, BDO, Blick Rothenberg, Buzzacott, Cafcass, CIMA, CIPFA, Deloitte, Duncan & Toplis, East of England Regional NHS Trusts, EY, Grant Thornton, ICAEW, ICAS, KPMG, Kreston Reeves, Mazars, MHA Macintyre Hudson, Moore Kingston Smith, the National Audit Office, Price Bailey, PwC, RSM, Saffery Champness.

Research undertaken on behalf of Access Accountancy by the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to promote social equality, shows that action being taken by the accountancy profession to improve socio-economic diversity Is having a positive impact in improving the business skills of young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds involved in work experience placements.
 
The analysis, which is the most comprehensive collation of socio-economic diversity data across a sector globally, reveals that while some of the actions taken across the accountancy profession to improve socio-economic diversity have improved the understanding and awareness of young people about a career in accounting, there is still more for the industry to do.
 
Nik Miller, Chief Executive of the Bridge Group that undertook the study, added:
 “The accountancy profession in the UK is leading the way globally in collecting and interrogating data to inform understanding and action regarding socio-economic diversity. Having now audited this data across the sector over the last four years, the real value now rests in our collective ability to use these insights to inform and evaluate change.”
 
The research considered socio-economic background data from applicants and hires across eleven firms, membership of three professional bodies, and an analysis of the impact of Access Accountancy work experience placements at twelve firms. The findings will be used to inform the future strategy and objectives of Access Accountancy.

Considering data from 2017-18, the research found that 41% of applicants had parents with no experience of higher education and 16% were eligible for free school meals and / or eligible for household income support. 74% of applicants attended a state school but those from independent schools had a success rate 8% higher compared to those from state schools. Candidates from higher income backgrounds also had a higher success rate compared to those from lower income households. As a result of the findings, a number of concrete recommendations have been made.

These include recommending that all signatories:

• Monitor the impact of initiatives and activities aimed at attracting a wider demographic to apply on the diversity of applicants and subsequent conversion rates and share this information among signatories. This will help highlight the efficacy of initiatives and enable shared learning.
• Use Access Accountancy as a platform to collate, analyse and benchmark workforce socio-economic background diversity. This will help identify shared challenges in this area.
• Ensure demographic data on work experience and programme impact is captured consistently.

Accountancy firms are already taking significant steps to progress diversity. To ensure that the best young candidates are being brought into the sector early, AA signatories are improving their targeting, and widening their outreach and work experience programmes. There is also an increased focus on the progression of students from these schemes into more permanent roles in firms. Many firms have made substantive changes to the way that they assess applicants, from the scrapping of A-Level requirements for certain positions to the introduction of contextualised and strengths-based recruitment. Finally, as well as submitting data to the Bridge Group’s sector-wide analysis, firms are beginning to conduct, and publicise, in-depth reviews of their workforce.

Rachel Hopcroft, Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG and Chair of Access Accountancy, said:
“It’s now thankfully widely agreed that diverse and inclusive companies have a competitive advantage in areas such as recruitment, employee satisfaction and performance, so it’s important for companies to come together to share their learnings and understand what more can be done to open up opportunities to as wide a group of people as possible. I’m proud of the work everyone in Access Accountancy has done over the past five years – but there is much more to do.

The reality is that boosting social mobility is not easy or simple – tackling deep rooted issues requires businesses to collect and analyse as much data as possible to help inform future actions. Working with the Bridge Group helps hold us accountable and drives us to keep finding new ways to make more of an impact in the lives of those we’re trying to reach. As an industry, accountancy has made a great start on this agenda – but we know we need to do more and working collaboratively is the best way to make meaningful change on a large scale.”

​The Bridge Group was commissioned by Access Accountancy to deliver ground-breaking data analysis, which will enable a better understanding of the socio-economic diversity of the sector, the impact of work experience, and how firms and professional bodies collate and use information about the socio-economic background of applicants and employees.

Access Accountancy is a collaboration of over 25 professional services firms, including the Big Four, the National Audit Office and the professional bodies. The programme was established in 2014, with the ambition to promote socio-economic diversity across all levels of the sector.
 
The Group’s analysis considered anonymised data relating to hundreds of thousands of applicants to explore how socio-economic background affects success, and to enable benchmarking in subsequent years to assess progress. It also undertook a study of the impact of the Access Accountancy work experience programme, which provides school pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds with opportunities to gain an insight into accountancy.
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Nik Miller, Director of the Bridge Group, commented: “The accountancy sector is steps ahead in collating and analysing these data. It is exciting to be at the heart of analysis that will help to provide robust information to inform policy change, and to evidence how efforts across the sector are effecting greater diversity with respect to socio-economic background.”

See the other articles and reports for more information on the Bridge Group’s research.