An inside look at the process of diversity in a South African accounting department in recent decades. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Botes, Vida
• Other Names: Evans Elaine guest-editor.; Paisey Catriona guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Accounting history. Volume 23:Number 1/2(2018)
• Page Start: 151
• Page End: 171
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: accounting history -- apartheid -- autoethnography -- diversification -- diversity -- female history -- social capital -- South Africa; Accounting -- History -- Periodicals; 657.0905
• DOI: 10.1177/1032373217710501
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1032-3732

Abstract

At the end of apartheid in South Africa, universities had to diversify their student population. This autoethnography tells the story of one tertiary institution where the diversification process happened in a fair and transparent manner. Can lessons be learned from the way the institution (staff and students) implemented diversity? The purpose of this article is to contribute to accounting history, using a woman's voice to recount and analyse challenges that the head of the accounting department faced in diversifying. Reflecting on the experiences helps to progress past the experience and provide an understanding of social capital harvested to enable diversification. The diversification process within the South African context is unique and contrasts to other diversity studies, as it focuses on the marginalisation and/or exclusion faced by a majority group when taken into a dominant minority group setting. This study has implications for those facing increased diversity in education due to globalisation.