Research Updates

It’s time to catch up on some of the recent research on women of color/multicultural women.

One recent study was released in mid-May by Catalyst on Women of Color in Accounting. This research is is part of their Women of Color in Professional Services series and was sponsored by Ernst & Young (lead sponsor), Deloitte & Touche LLP, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (contributing sponsors). Katherine Giscombe, who has been at the helm of quite a bit of Catalyst research on women of color led this project.

The study found that the experiences of women of color overlapped with men of color and with their Caucasian female counterparts, but that they ultimately faced barriers similar to those groups but to a greater degree. Below is a list of significant challenges faced by women of color in accounting:

• challenges navigating a client based environment
• lack of similar role models
• exclusion from networks
• lack of high-visibility assignments and business development opportunities

I am looking forward to reading this report and think it’s great that Catalyst has continued this line of research.

For more information, read the press release or the full report.

JFC