Accountancy’s role as a vocation that benefits people from all walks of life has been highlighted on Social Mobility Day (13 June).

In a special message to Insights, ICAEW Chief Operating Officer Sharron Gunn describes accountancy as an “elevator profession” – but reminds the accounting community as a whole that it has more work to do to be open to everyone.

Gunn became Chair of Access Accountancy last August, a social mobility charity established in 2014 to boost access to – and progression within – the sector. The initiative came together in the wake of overwhelming evidence showing that applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds (SEBs) are less likely to be hired within the industry.

High impact

In a recent statement from the charity, Gunn pointed out that the issues identified in 2014 are persisting. In 2022, she noted, research from signatory firm KPMG showed that social class remained the biggest barrier to career progression in the field.

According to the firm, those from lower SEBs took on average 19% longer to progress to the next level of their career journeys, compared with their higher-SEB colleagues. KPMG’s findings stemmed from a five-year analysis of the career paths of 16,500 partners and employees.

Fast-forward to October 2023 and non-profit consultancy Bridge Group – which uses research to promote social equality – cited work experience as an important means to offset those lingering issues. Its analysis of signatories’ data from the previous two years showed that the impact of work experience in the profession was consistently high. Almost all young people in the study reported an increase in their business skills and awareness (94%), together with networking and communication skills (93%).

From 2016 to 2022, signatories’ applicant pool for entry-level roles – ie, school-leaver and graduate programmes – became more diverse, with those from minority-ethnic backgrounds increasing from 41% to 61%.

Gunn explained that, as Access Accountancy Chair, she would focus on ensuring that openness to people from lower SEBs is a norm for the profession – not an exception.

“One way we can do this is by spreading the reach of our organisation,” she said. “We’ve commissioned research on how we can further our aims and we’d like to hear from any firms who are interested in finding out more about Access Accountancy, so we can deepen our impact across the profession.”

Raising awareness

Speaking to Insights on Social Mobility Day, Gunn reinforces that call. “Access Accountancy exists to make the accountancy profession more representative of society as a whole, by giving everyone an equal chance of accessing and progressing within the profession based on merit, and not their background,” she says.

“Initiatives such as Social Mobility Day are an important way of raising awareness about why social mobility matters. In our view, everyone benefits from greater social mobility. That’s why we’re determined to boost access to the profession and to work alongside other organisations making a difference.”

Gunn notes: “Accountancy is one of the great elevator professions – but we know there is still more to do to ensure that the profession truly is open to everyone. As a collaboration of more than 25 accountancy organisations, we provide work experience placements to young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to give them an insight into the profession.

“Our placements are specifically aimed at state school pupils from a lower-socio economic background – and we know that thousands of young people have benefitted from our work experience programme.”

She adds: “We’re always keen to hear from organisations who would like to become members of Access Accountancy, and I’d encourage anyone who wants to learn more about the charity and the placements we offer to contact me. Our members benefit from a range of resources and support, as well as being part of a UK-wide network.”

Gunn invites any organisation that wants to join Access Accountancy as a member, or find out more about the charity, to get in touch with her at access.accountancy@icaew.com.