The Certified Public Accountant designation is at a crossroads: Our profession can broaden accessibility and ascension at all levels of the talent pipeline–or risk perpetuating the ills caused by a shrinking workforce.
Nationwide, the combination of a shortage of accountants (particularly CPAs), persistent pipeline challenges, and underrepresentation is having ripple effects on industries and capital markets at all levels. Yet, key decision-makers persist in upholding rules that seemed adequate decades ago–but now represent hurdles that result in low interest among Black and African American professionals–and a persistently low representation, with less than 2% of CPA accountants identifying as Black.
