scholarly journals Mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination in the accounting profession: An ethnicity-focused study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Guozhen G. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cultural Domination ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>This study addresses mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination in the accounting profession. It illustrates how people are potentially discriminated against, based on their ethnicities, when entering the accounting profession; and strategies they have used to overcome such potential discrimination. In investigating these issues, Bourdieu’s practice theory is used as the directing theory.  The sample used in this study comprises 45 accounting graduates who have wished to enter the accounting profession via the accountant employment market in New Zealand. They are of 20 different ethnic backgrounds. Their experiences and perceptions are collected through interview analysis, such interviews undertaken with semi-structured questioning. In data analysis, the researcher first identifies the different positions taken by different ethnic groups relative to each other, and then examines ethnic minorities’ forms of capital (accessible resources) relative to their position. After confirming their positions and forms of capital, the researcher further examines their strategies.  The study found that Pakeha (New Zealanders mostly British descent) take the most advantageous positions; migrants from China and East Asia take the most disadvantageous positions; sitting between them, are ethnic minorities who grew up in New Zealand, and migrants from the Indian subcontinent and South Asia.  Ethnic minorities are potentially discriminated against on eight subtle factors including English proficiency (oral proficiency in particular), understanding of local New Zealand culture, accounting work experience in New Zealand, personality traits (appearances and manners in particular), their New Zealand accounting degree, country of origin (and associated accent and surname), cultural stereotype (work ethic in particular), and any weakness in their social networks with local New Zealanders.  To overcome such potential discrimination, ethnic minorities have been observed to use seven strategies; including adopting an English surname, meeting the employer face-to-face, cutting down the CV (removing overseas accounting qualifications and experiences), accepting an undesirable job offer, seeking a niche in the accountant job market, “knitting the web” (building up social networks with New Zealanders), and transforming the self (changing their habitus and adapting to New Zealand norms).  This study shows that discrimination is suffered not only by Chinese and Indians (as identified in previous accounting research), but also by many other ethnicities. It supports the view that accounting is not just a recording technique; it is also a tool which is used to produce and reproduce economic and cultural domination in the society. Some seemingly meritocratic attributes, such as accounting knowledge, skills and personality traits, are in fact perceived to be inherently connected to an accountant’s social and cultural background.</p>

scholarly journals Mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination in the accounting profession: An ethnicity-focused study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Guozhen G. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cultural Domination ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>This study addresses mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination in the accounting profession. It illustrates how people are potentially discriminated against, based on their ethnicities, when entering the accounting profession; and strategies they have used to overcome such potential discrimination. In investigating these issues, Bourdieu’s practice theory is used as the directing theory.  The sample used in this study comprises 45 accounting graduates who have wished to enter the accounting profession via the accountant employment market in New Zealand. They are of 20 different ethnic backgrounds. Their experiences and perceptions are collected through interview analysis, such interviews undertaken with semi-structured questioning. In data analysis, the researcher first identifies the different positions taken by different ethnic groups relative to each other, and then examines ethnic minorities’ forms of capital (accessible resources) relative to their position. After confirming their positions and forms of capital, the researcher further examines their strategies.  The study found that Pakeha (New Zealanders mostly British descent) take the most advantageous positions; migrants from China and East Asia take the most disadvantageous positions; sitting between them, are ethnic minorities who grew up in New Zealand, and migrants from the Indian subcontinent and South Asia.  Ethnic minorities are potentially discriminated against on eight subtle factors including English proficiency (oral proficiency in particular), understanding of local New Zealand culture, accounting work experience in New Zealand, personality traits (appearances and manners in particular), their New Zealand accounting degree, country of origin (and associated accent and surname), cultural stereotype (work ethic in particular), and any weakness in their social networks with local New Zealanders.  To overcome such potential discrimination, ethnic minorities have been observed to use seven strategies; including adopting an English surname, meeting the employer face-to-face, cutting down the CV (removing overseas accounting qualifications and experiences), accepting an undesirable job offer, seeking a niche in the accountant job market, “knitting the web” (building up social networks with New Zealanders), and transforming the self (changing their habitus and adapting to New Zealand norms).  This study shows that discrimination is suffered not only by Chinese and Indians (as identified in previous accounting research), but also by many other ethnicities. It supports the view that accounting is not just a recording technique; it is also a tool which is used to produce and reproduce economic and cultural domination in the society. Some seemingly meritocratic attributes, such as accounting knowledge, skills and personality traits, are in fact perceived to be inherently connected to an accountant’s social and cultural background.</p>

Entering the accounting profession: the operationalization of ethnicity-based discrimination

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1342-1366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guozhen Huang ◽  
Carolyn J. Fowler ◽  
Rachel F. Baskerville
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Ethnic Discrimination ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Race Discrimination ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Majority Group

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a Bourdieu-oriented study that investigates race discrimination when graduates of diverse ethnicities aspire to enter the accounting profession. This study illustrates the benefits of a careful and fine-grained operationalization of ethnicity for such a research project. Design/methodology/approach The cohort interviewed comprises 45 participants of 20 different ethnicities. Findings From this interview data, it appears that employers mostly favour “Pakeha” New Zealanders (the non-Maori ethnic majority group, mostly of British origin); those who migrated from China and East Asia are the most disfavoured; between them are those of ethnic minorities brought up in New Zealand and those who migrated from the Indian subcontinent and South Asia. Underneath the experience of discrimination is the operationalization of ten subtle factors, and a range of strategies adopted to overcome such factors, as further described in this study. Research limitations/implications The findings may permit stakeholders, including professional bodies, employers, aspirant accountants, vocational counsellors, and those who have interests in promoting equality and meritocracy in the accounting profession, to formulate effective rules and structures to combat discrimination. It may also inform those in other professions seeking to lessen ethnic discrimination, and wider society. Originality/value The study fills a gap in the accounting literature by elaborating on the mechanisms of how ethnic minorities are discriminated against. It confirms that discrimination is suffered not only by the most salient ethnic groups, but by graduates of “Western” universities, of many and diverse ethnicities, all of whom suffer being perceived as “outsiders”.

scholarly journals Loneliness, connectivity, and place in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebekah Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Way ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>Loneliness is widespread – 31 percent of New Zealanders reported being lonely a little, some, most, or all of the time in 2012, which equates to approximately 1.3 million New Zealanders. Loneliness is firstly an individual problem associated with corrosive health outcomes such as depression, and suicide. It is also a social problem because of the way social exclusion inhibits community wellbeing.  Loneliness is a reflection of both an objective condition and a subjective condition. The former reflects measures of the number and depth of social contact, and the later captures how people feel and judge their own level of loneliness. Typically, loneliness as a condition is ‘being alone and not liking it’.  The majority of research attention, both internationally, as well as in New Zealand, has been paid to loneliness among the old. What my thesis shows is that loneliness is not confined to a particular age group but widespread across all ages, and is in fact highest among the young and declines with age. Therefore, studies of loneliness are most appropriately based on population-wide surveys so that its prevalence across all age and socio-economic groups can be addressed. At the same time, particular attention now needs to be paid to the young. For this reason I apply statistical models of loneliness to two separate data sets: the 2012 New Zealand General Social Survey, and a sample of youth in Wellington, Taranaki and Auckland as provided by the 2006 Youth Connectedness Project.  My analysis of these two samples focuses on the relationship between objective measures of social connection and the subjective expression of loneliness itself. I show that while loneliness decreases with the level of social connection, it is also subject to considerable variation across a range of covariates. These include, most importantly, age, gender, socioeconomic status and health.  Connectivity also has a number of geographical properties which render this topic of interest to the human geographer. Among these are proximity – the readily availability of family and friends for regular face-to-face contact, as well as the ability to easily access and contribute to the local community. These are matters of geographic context which is addressed in several ways, including through a GIS analysis.  My primary finding has to do with the cumulative nature of connectedness. Over and above the separate effect of having a partner, local family, and friends, is the importance of their combined and cumulative effect in reducing loneliness, a feature which reinforces the importance of the concept of community.  I find that the young, females, migrants, the poor, and people in poor health are more likely to be lonely, particularly when these attributes combine. In terms of geographical context, residents of main urban areas, and in lower socioeconomic areas show a higher likelihood of being lonely in both datasets. However GIS results for the City of Wellington show that lonely youth show no evidence of spatially clustering in ways that would imply social exclusion in a geographic sense.  My analysis takes place against a backdrop of widespread concern about social connection in general, about the growing role of non-face-to-face communication among the young, about the dislocating effects of marital instability, and the supporting role of families both for the young and the old. None of my results dispel these concerns. What my results suggest is the need for a focused attention on the nature of social connections in particular contexts, and the way they evolve over time.</p>

scholarly journals Loneliness, connectivity, and place in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebekah Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Way ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>Loneliness is widespread – 31 percent of New Zealanders reported being lonely a little, some, most, or all of the time in 2012, which equates to approximately 1.3 million New Zealanders. Loneliness is firstly an individual problem associated with corrosive health outcomes such as depression, and suicide. It is also a social problem because of the way social exclusion inhibits community wellbeing.  Loneliness is a reflection of both an objective condition and a subjective condition. The former reflects measures of the number and depth of social contact, and the later captures how people feel and judge their own level of loneliness. Typically, loneliness as a condition is ‘being alone and not liking it’.  The majority of research attention, both internationally, as well as in New Zealand, has been paid to loneliness among the old. What my thesis shows is that loneliness is not confined to a particular age group but widespread across all ages, and is in fact highest among the young and declines with age. Therefore, studies of loneliness are most appropriately based on population-wide surveys so that its prevalence across all age and socio-economic groups can be addressed. At the same time, particular attention now needs to be paid to the young. For this reason I apply statistical models of loneliness to two separate data sets: the 2012 New Zealand General Social Survey, and a sample of youth in Wellington, Taranaki and Auckland as provided by the 2006 Youth Connectedness Project.  My analysis of these two samples focuses on the relationship between objective measures of social connection and the subjective expression of loneliness itself. I show that while loneliness decreases with the level of social connection, it is also subject to considerable variation across a range of covariates. These include, most importantly, age, gender, socioeconomic status and health.  Connectivity also has a number of geographical properties which render this topic of interest to the human geographer. Among these are proximity – the readily availability of family and friends for regular face-to-face contact, as well as the ability to easily access and contribute to the local community. These are matters of geographic context which is addressed in several ways, including through a GIS analysis.  My primary finding has to do with the cumulative nature of connectedness. Over and above the separate effect of having a partner, local family, and friends, is the importance of their combined and cumulative effect in reducing loneliness, a feature which reinforces the importance of the concept of community.  I find that the young, females, migrants, the poor, and people in poor health are more likely to be lonely, particularly when these attributes combine. In terms of geographical context, residents of main urban areas, and in lower socioeconomic areas show a higher likelihood of being lonely in both datasets. However GIS results for the City of Wellington show that lonely youth show no evidence of spatially clustering in ways that would imply social exclusion in a geographic sense.  My analysis takes place against a backdrop of widespread concern about social connection in general, about the growing role of non-face-to-face communication among the young, about the dislocating effects of marital instability, and the supporting role of families both for the young and the old. None of my results dispel these concerns. What my results suggest is the need for a focused attention on the nature of social connections in particular contexts, and the way they evolve over time.</p>

Editorial

2017 ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Peter Hoar
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Design History ◽  
Recorded Sound ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The World ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
New Zealanders

Kia ora and welcome to the second issue of BackStory. The members of the Backstory Editorial Team were gratified by the encouraging response to the first issue of the journal. We hope that our currentreaders enjoy our new issue and that it will bring others to share our interest in and enjoyment of the surprisingly varied backstories of New Zealand’s art, media, and design history. This issue takes in a wide variety of topics. Imogen Van Pierce explores the controversy around the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery to be developed in Whangarei. This project has generated debate about the role of the arts and civic architecture at both the local and national levels. This is about how much New Zealanders are prepared to invest in the arts. The value of the artist in New Zealand is also examined by Mark Stocker in his article about the sculptor Margaret Butler and the local reception of her work during the late 1930s. The cultural cringe has a long genealogy. New Zealand has been photographed since the 1840s. Alan Cocker analyses the many roles that photography played in the development of local tourism during the nineteenth century. These images challenged notions of the ‘real’ and the ‘artificial’ and how new technologies mediated the world of lived experience. Recorded sound was another such technology that changed how humans experienced the world. The rise of recorded sound from the 1890s affected lives in many ways and Lewis Tennant’s contribution captures a significant tipping point in this medium’s history in New Zealand as the transition from analogue to digital sound transformed social, commercial and acoustic worlds. The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly celebrates its 85th anniversary this year but when it was launched in 1932 it seemed tohave very little chance of success. Its rival, the Mirror, had dominated the local market since its launch in 1922. Gavin Ellis investigates the Depression-era context of the Woman’s Weekly and how its founders identified a gap in the market that the Mirror was failing to fill. The work of the photographer Marti Friedlander (1908-2016) is familiar to most New Zealanders. Friedlander’s 50 year career and huge range of subjects defy easy summary. She captured New Zealanders, their lives, and their surroundings across all social and cultural borders. In the journal’s profile commentary Linda Yang celebrates Freidlander’s remarkable life and work. Linda also discusses some recent images by Friedlander and connects these with themes present in the photographer’s work from the 1960s and 1970s. The Backstory editors hope that our readers enjoy this stimulating and varied collection of work that illuminate some not so well known aspects of New Zealand’s art, media, and design history. There are many such stories yet to be told and we look forward to bringing them to you.

scholarly journals The switching mechanisms of social network densification

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teruyoshi Kobayashi ◽  
Mathieu Génois
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Regime Switching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Social ◽  
Switching Property ◽  
Distinctive Type ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractDensification and sparsification of social networks are attributed to two fundamental mechanisms: a change in the population in the system, and/or a change in the chances that people in the system are connected. In theory, each of these mechanisms generates a distinctive type of densification scaling, but in reality both types are generally mixed. Here, we develop a Bayesian statistical method to identify the extent to which each of these mechanisms is at play at a given point in time, taking the mixed densification scaling as input. We apply the method to networks of face-to-face interactions of individuals and reveal that the main mechanism that causes densification and sparsification occasionally switches, the frequency of which depending on the social context. The proposed method uncovers an inherent regime-switching property of network dynamics, which will provide a new insight into the mechanics behind evolving social interactions.

Racism and silencing in the media in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 117718012110154
Author(s):  
Liana MacDonald ◽  
Adreanne Ormond
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Racial Discourse ◽  
European Descent ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Zealanders

Racism in the Aotearoa New Zealand media is the subject of scholarly debate that examines how Māori (Indigenous Peoples of New Zealand) are broadcast in a negative and demeaning light. Literature demonstrates evolving understandings of how the industry places Pākehā (New Zealanders primarily of European descent) interests at the heart of broadcasting. We offer new insights by arguing that the media industry propagates a racial discourse of silencing that sustains widespread ignorance of the ways that Pākehā sensibilities mediate society. We draw attention to a silencing discourse through one televised story in 2018. On-screen interactions reproduce and safeguard a harmonious narrative of settler–Indigenous relations that support ignorance and denial of the structuring force of colonisation, and the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice upholds colour-blind perceptions of discrimination and injustice through liberal rhetoric. These processes ensure that the media industry is complicit in racism and the ongoing oppression of Indigenous peoples.

The Origins of New Zealand Speech

1998 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Gordon
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
The Past ◽  
Written Comments ◽  
New Zealanders

New Zealand English has evolved in the past 150 years, at a time when it is possible to find both written and spoken evidence of its development. This paper takes evidence gained from an analysis of written comments on early New Zealand English and compares this with data taken from an analysis of spoken New Zealand English obtained from recordings collected in the 1940s of old New Zealanders born in the 1850s-1890s — the period when the New Zealand accent was developing. By putting the written data beside the spoken data it is now possible to assess the accuracy of written records as a basis for the reconstruction of the earliest form of New Zealand English.

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