The claim “that is not what we [accountants] do” will be challenged later in this article. Care is part of the DNA of US accounting. The AICPA has a storied history of care extending back to the 1930s, demonstrating compassion for CPAs in dire straits with the creation of the AICPA Benevolent Fund. It is a policy that is still in effect to this day (AICPA Benevolent Fund – Standard Support Application, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/4wdfyfsh). The “ethics of care” involve helping where one can. This has unfortunately been lacking in a profession where DEI efforts should be more prevalent (T. Hammond, A White-Collar Profession, University of North Carolina Press, 2002; T. Hammond, “Testimony of Theresa A. Hammond. Hearing on Diversity in the Financial Services Industry and Access to Capital for Minority-Owned Businesses: Challenges and Opportunities,” 2004, https://tinyurl.com/2hju3t64; A. Lewis, “Smoke and Mirrors. Race and the Black CPA,” The CPA Journal, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3c9mcpzs).
Making the Professional Visible (The Dread of Vulnerability)
What was most apparent when reading Ugiagbe-Green’s chapter was the earnestness of the pain she revealed; its rawness was so antithetical to the typical way of being in the accounting profession. Readers care about this scholar, this Black woman academic, this friend who had endured so much, said so little, and was consumed by a hurt that would not leave. The author’s words cause a strong emotional response, shown in a small way in the quote:
The biggest challenge has been the toxic, performative, self-interest-driven motivations of some of the academics working in this space … [who] dismiss the care and compassion that is essential to our work.
Ugiagbe-Green does not shy away from being angry or hurt. Instead, she shares emotional fatigue from the lack of care displayed in accounting and mentions those who are further marginalized for it. Can we do more for those experiencing this? Ugiagbe-Green’s journey is ours, showing what is possible for her is possible for all. Her story evokes admiration and empathy, coming not from privilege, but from hardship.
Black and proud, woman and proud, committed to being a qualified accountant—Ugiagbe-Green’s story was begging to be told. Yet how many other tales could be told right now? How do we spy pain well-hidden in plain sight? This is the work of an ethics of care, which finds a way to “know” the unknown Other, sitting with them in their joy and pain. Such connection risks dangerous vulnerability, leading to the question: can we care without risk?
Care Away the Pain
It is more important than ever for the profession to engage in a discussion of what an ethics of care might look like. We, as a society, seem to care less about everything. Have we forgotten how to care for one another? Worse, this backdrop rests against radically different economic and social policy shifts, causing ructions in society not witnessed for decades. Ugiagbe-Green’s chapter counters this notion, calling us to resolve instead that everyone, irrespective of their history, is worthy of experiencing accounting as a place of compassion, expertise, and trust. Empathy and communication are foundational to the concept of care and critical to building trust. Without faith in the accounting function, how will clients seek practical advice? An increased societal sense of anxiety works against this, fueling an impending feeling of dread, particularly for those marked Other. We feel ever more disconnected, isolated, and vulnerable because of it. Herein lies the danger of caring less.
Connection Is Key
Seismic shifts are afoot in the profession, as a declining number of CPAs meets the ever-growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The result is changing the scope and nature of accounting, a field once grounded in the technical (but manual) preparation of financial information, now being automated, pragmatically addressing waning staffing needs, recasting and re-reading the accountant as business strategist as well as advisor, a role which depends upon one’s ability to connect. The accountant of tomorrow cares about the client, their business, and those around them. This approach begins with caring for colleagues and those around us, an approach that must become second nature.
In the academic setting, Ugiagbe-Green finds kinship with Black women students seeking mentorship, empathy, and solace in an often oppressive and racially divisive environment. This profession would benefit from a setting where collegial kinship rings true—authentic and beyond the usual platitudes of typical performative sponsorship schemes (S. Ahmed, On Being Included. Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Duke University Press, 2012). Accounting must move beyond the conventional business school view, which calls for shifts in perspective taking that run counter to the received wisdom of profit maximization and the neutral accountant. The gains? For Ugiagbe-Green, her students excelled.
This experience is echoed by Professor Lan, another accounting academic who showed uncharacteristic care in the formal examination setting (G. Lan, “A Simple Act of Caring,” Accounting Education, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 329–331, 2001). Here, he saw an accounting student leave early during an exam, and noticing he had missed a question, called him back to point out his omission. Was this weakness? Life does not often give second chances, so why should this student receive one? Lan noticed that after explaining the situation to others taking the exam, they exhibited relief at avoiding the same fate. Later, he recounted the positive atmosphere subsequently created in the classroom and improved student results in later assignments. Knowing the professor cared mattered to his students’ performance. We must wonder what could be achieved in the accounting work-place under such circumstances.
Hidden Hurt
Nonetheless, we must remember that fear and guilt appear in all forms, often masquerading under the guise of normality by colleagues we would never guess were struggling. The rising star might be plagued with unfounded sentiments of impostor syndrome, undermining their confidence and eventual performance. Who is there to correct this harmful self-talk? Perhaps it is the neurodiverse accountant, the person with dyslexia, who struggles to present the report he just wrote to clients because they are in a meeting where on-the-spot responses are required. Who is there to explain the strength it takes to push through reading discomfort and champion great work?
Consider the good work that the AICPA Benevolent Fund undertakes each year through the struggles of a composite character typical of those whom the fund aids. Tina, a CPA, was near the tipping point, a divorced mother of two with a history of anxiety and depression, who fell through the usual safety nets, and whose work suffered because of it, leading her to only work part-time. Her struggles culminated in the revelation of a bipolar disorder diagnosis with suicidal tendencies. Although the path to treatment and betterment lay before her, poor finances meant she could not afford the expensive, but necessary, drug regimen. Colleagues pointed her towards the AICPA Benevolent Fund, where she received, after application, enough money to cover treatment costs and specific household expenses. Support is ongoing, as semiannually, a fund committee member checks on recipients for any follow-up needs (R. Porter, “Caring for our Own,” Journal of Accountancy, February 2004). Our care as accountants for those in need should have no bounds and be central to what it means to be a financial services professional.
Still, the task ahead is difficult, because ours is a call to challenge the status quo of profits over people. The business case is clear, however; in the AI-dominated world to come, one where the accountant is the empathic tactical advisor, care is paramount. Troublingly, we as a profession are pushing against this outcome, fearing that an ethics of care paints the professional as inauthentic because it requires displays of vulnerability—both ours and others’—in a workplace setting which mistakes this for weakness. Yet, bravery in this matter is needed; the little things, like taking a chance to care, frequently matter most.
