a q&a with donny c. shimamoto, cpa, citp, cgma, and managing director of intraprisetechknowlogies llc.
by liz gold
liz gold: do you think the profession is getting better in terms of more people of color in leadership positions? why or why not?
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donny shimamoto: the profession is getting a little better, but there is a distinct lack of asian-american professionals in leadership positions in the aicpa volunteer ranks.
over three years ago, when i was chair of the aicpa’s information technology and technology assurance executive committee, i was invited to attend an all-chairs meeting in the aicpa’s nyc offices. all of the committee chairs were older white men, and there was one older white female and me – only two of us representing “diversity” and only myself being non-white. and even though asian americans compose the second largest population of accountants and auditors in the u.s. – yes, more than african and hispanic americans – there is still a distinct lack of asian-american representation in key volunteer leadership positions in the aicpa.
lg: what are the barriers that you see preventing people of color from being in leadership positions within firms and within their associations?
ds: i think the biggest barrier is the white male and “country club” culture that underlies many of the firms’ and associations’ leadership groups. when i would sit at the dinners and socialize with the other white male leaders in the profession, when not about accounting, the conversation was often about either sports, boating, golf or other topics associated with the “upper crust” of society. as someone coming from a lower middle-class family and asian ethnic background, these were things that i couldn’t relate to – only rich and white people did that kind of stuff – and it made me feel distinctly out of place and not want to be there.
lg: have you experienced any outward racism (or microaggressions) that you would be willing to share?
ds: i haven’t experienced any direct racism – i think people in the profession are too aware of the possibility of being perceived as racist to behave in that way – but i have felt like i’ve been discounted as an asian american. i had one email exchange with a senior aicpa executive where the person insisted that there is diversity in the leadership of the profession, citing african-american and hispanic-american members of the board. when i cited my experience at the chairs’ meeting mentioned earlier and the lack of asian-american representation in the committee chairs’ positions or at board level, the person continued to emphasize that there was diversity. this really made me feel like asian americans simply don’t matter in the eyes of the aicpa.
lg: what advice do you have for 1) firms for bringing more people of color into leadership roles and 2) for the profession as a whole to step it up?
ds: if white male-dominated firms want more people of color to feel welcome in leadership roles, i think they need to look at the underlying social norms and relationships that they operate under, and ensure that it is something that doesn’t put the person of color into an uncomfortable situation. so, don’t invite me to come to the country club (where everyone else except me will be white) and golf (i don’t golf) to get to know me better. i’d much rather have a nice dinner together. also, don’t make assumptions based on ethnic generalizations. for example, because my last name is japanese, people automatically assume i like sushi. i don’t not like sushi, but i’d much rather have a juicy pork chop or a tasty salad than sushi.
the profession as a whole is doing a lot to help raise the awareness of the need for diversity, but i feel like it’s very similar to past affirmative action initiatives. my main concern with affirmative action is how it actually created situations of reverse discrimination for white people and later for asian-american people, particularly in areas where there were high asian-american populations, like california. instead i think it is important to identify high-potential people of color and to provide them with opportunities to be role models, and to help make them visible so that younger people of color in the profession have someone whom they can relate to in the upper leadership ranks who makes them feel like there is opportunity and a place for them in the profession.