At the end of apartheid in South Africa, universities had to diversify their student population. This autoethnography tells the story of one tertiary institution where the diversification process happened in a fair and transparent manner. Can lessons be learned from the way the institution (staff and students) implemented diversity? The purpose of this article is to contribute to accounting history, using a woman’s voice to recount and analyse challenges that the head of the accounting department faced in diversifying. Reflecting on the experiences helps to progress past the experience and provide an understanding of social capital harvested to enable diversification. The diversification process within the South African context is unique and contrasts to other diversity studies, as it focuses on the marginalisation and/or exclusion faced by a majority group when taken into a dominant minority group setting. This study has implications for those facing increased diversity in education due to globalisation.
Academic Freedom Committees (1957) The Open Universities of South Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa: Witwatersrand University Press.
2.
AlexanderLTredouxC (2010) The spaces between us: A spatial analysis of informal segregation at a South African University. Journal of Social Issues66(2): 367–386.
3.
AstinAW (1993) Diversity and multiculturalism on the campus: How are students affected?Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning25(2): 44–49.
4.
Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 75 of 1997, South Africa.
5.
BeckhamEF (2000) Diversity, Democracy, and Higher Education: A View from Three Nations– India, South Africa, the United States. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities Press.
BourdieuP (1986) The forms of capital. In: RichardsonJG (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, pp. 241–252.
8.
BourdieuP (1990) The Logic of Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
9.
BourdieuPWacquantLJ (1992) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
10.
BryerRA (1993) The late nineteenth-century revolution in financial reporting: Accounting for the rise of investor or managerial capitalism?Accounting, Organizations and Society18(7): 649–690.
11.
BryerRA (2000) The history of accounting and the transition to capitalism in England. Part one: Theory. Accounting, Organizations and Society25(2): 131–162.
12.
BryerRA (2012) Americanism and financial accounting theory–Part 1: Was America born capitalist?Critical Perspectives on Accounting23(7): 511–555.
13.
BryerRA (2013) Americanism and financial accounting theory–Part 2: The ‘modern business enterprise’, America’s transition to capitalism, and the genesis of management accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting24(4): 273–318.
14.
BuntingI (2004) The higher education landscape under apartheid. In: CloeteNFehelRMaassenPMojaTPeroldHGibbonT (eds) Transformation in Higher Education Global Pressures and Local Realities in South Africa. The Netherlands: Kluwer Publishing, pp. 35–52.
15.
CakalHHewstoneMSchwarGHeathA (2011) An investigation of the social identity model of collective action and the ‘sedative’ effect of intergroup contact among Black and White students in South Africa. British Journal of Social Psychology50(4): 606–627.
16.
CanagarajahAS (2012) Teacher development in a global profession: An autoethnography. Tesol Quarterly46(2): 258–279.
17.
ChristiePCollinsC (1982) Bantu education: Apartheid ideology or labour reproduction?Comparative Education18(1): 59–75.
18.
CrossM (2004) Institutionalising campus diversity in South African higher education: Review of diversity scholarship and diversity education. Higher Education47(4): 387–410.
19.
DavisJE (1994) College in Black and White: Campus environment and academic achievement of African American males. The Journal of Negro Education63(4): 620–633.
20.
DillonPJ (2012) Unbalanced: An autoethnography of fatherhood in academe. Journal of Family Communication12(4): 284–299.
21.
EasterlingDRudellF (1997) Rationale, benefits, and methods of service-learning in marketing education. Journal of Education for Business73(1): 58–61.
22.
EllisC (2004) The Ethnographic I: A Methodological Novel about Autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
23.
EllisC (2009) Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections on Life and Work. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
24.
Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998, South Africa.
25.
EvansE (2010) Jurisdictional disputes in accounting: Education or training. In: EvansEBurrittRGuthrieJ (eds) Accounting Education at a Crossroad in 2010. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, pp. 80–89.
26.
EvansI (1997) Bureaucracy and Race: Native Administration in South Africa. Los Angeles, CA: California Press.
27.
FrankelP (2001) An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and its Massacre. Johannesburg, South Africa: Witwatersrand University Press.
28.
GaitskellDKimbleJMaconachieMUnterhalterE (1983) Class, race and gender: Domestic workers in South Africa. Review of African Political Economy10(27–28): 86–108.
29.
GovinderKSZondoNPMakgobaMW (2013) A new look at demographic transformation for universities in South Africa. South African Journal of Science109(11–12): 1–11.
30.
GurinP (1999) New research on the benefits of diversity in college and beyond: An empirical analysis. Diversity Digest3(3): 5–15.
31.
GurinPDeyELGurinGHurtadoS (2003) How does racial/ethnic diversity promote education?Western Journal of Black Studies27(1): 20–29.
32.
GurinPNagdaBRLopezGE (2004) The benefits of diversity in education for democratic citizenship. Journal of Social Issues60(1): 17–34.
33.
HammondTArnoldPJClaytonBM (2007) Recounting a difficult past: South African accounting firm’s ‘experiences in transformation’. Accounting History12(3): 253–281.
34.
HammondTClaytonBMArnoldPJ (2009) South Africa’s transition from apartheid: The role of professional closure in the experiences of black chartered accountants. Accounting, Organizations and Society34(6): 705–721.
35.
HébertY (2001) Identity, diversity, and education: A critical review of the literature. Canadian Ethnic Studies33(3): 155–177.
36.
HemsonCSinghP (2010) Shadows of transformation: Inclusion and exclusion of academic staff at a University of Technology. South African Journal of Higher Education24(6): 935–952.
HurtadoS (1999) Linking diversity and educational purpose: How the diversity of the faculty and student body impacts the classroom environment and student development. In: OrfieldOG (ed.) Diversity Challenged: Legal Crisis and New Evidence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Publishing Group, pp. 187–203.
40.
HurtadoSClayton-PedersenARAllen WR and MilemJF (1998) Enhancing campus climates for racial/ethnic diversity: Educational policy and practice. Review of Higher Education21(3): 279–302.
41.
IkinCJohnsLHayesC (2012) Field, capital and habitus: An oral history of women in accounting in Australia during World War II. Accounting History17(2): 175–192.
42.
JohnsonD (2007) Building citizenship in fragmented societies: The challenges of deracialising and integrating schools in post-Apartheid South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development27(3): 306–317.
43.
KallawayP (1997) The restructuring of South African Education and Training in Comparative Context. In: KallawayPKrussPFataarADonnG (eds) Education after Apartheid: South African Education in Transition. Rondebosch, South Africa: University of Cape Town Press, pp. 50–76.
44.
KnudsenJS (2013) The integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives into business activities: Can lessons be learnt from gender diversity programmes?International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics8(3): 210–223.
45.
KulikCTRobersonL (2008) Common goals and golden opportunities: Evaluations of diversity education in academic and organizational settings. Academy of Management Learning & Education7(3): 309–331.
46.
LeibbrandtMWoolardCWoolardI (2000) The contribution of income components to income inequality in the rural former homelands of South Africa: A decomposable Gini analysis. Journal of African Economies9(1): 79–99.
47.
McClintockA (1991) No longer in a future heaven: Women and nationalism in South Africa. Transition51: 104–123.
48.
McMohanPSchulmanECockburnJ (2007) X-Kit History. Cape Town, South Africa: Pearson Education.
49.
MandelaN (1994) Long Walk to Freedom. Cape Town, South Africa: MacDonald Purnell.
50.
MarcumJA (1982) Education, Race, and Social Change in South Africa. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
51.
MasonKMZanish-BelcherT (2007) Raising the archival consciousness: How women’s archives challenge traditional approaches to collecting and use, or, what’s in a name?Library Trends56(2): 344–359.
52.
MilemJ (1994) College, students and racial understanding. Thought and Action9(2): 51–92.
53.
MilemJFChangMJAntonioA (2005) Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-based Perspective. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
54.
NdlovuSM (2006) The Soweto uprising. In: NdlovuSM (ed.) The Road to Democracy in South Africa Volume Two 1970–1980. Pretoria, South Africa: Unisa Press, pp. 317–351.
55.
NeumannR (2002) Diversity, doctoral education and policy. Higher Education Research and Development21(2): 167–178.
56.
PattmanR (2010) Investigating ‘race’ and social cohesion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. South African Journal of Higher Education24(6): 963–971.
57.
PetersonDMBriggsPDreasherLHornerDDNelsonT (1999) Contributions of international students and programs to campus diversity. New Directions for Student Services86: 67–77.
58.
PortesA (2000) Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. In: LesserE (ed.) Knowledge and Social Capital. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 43–67.
59.
PowerMK (1991) Educating accountants: Towards a critical ethnography. Accounting, Organizations and Society16(4): 333–353.
60.
PrinslooDACloeteCE (2002) Post-apartheid residential mobility patterns in two South African cities. Property Management20(4): 264–277.
61.
Pulse (1994) School of Accounting hosts Winter School. Pulse2(6): 2–4.
62.
QuayeSJHarperSR (2014) Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations. New York: Routledge.
ReddyT (2004) Higher education and social transformation: South African case study. Report for Council on Higher Education, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, February.
65.
RendonL (1996) Educating a New Majority: Transforming America’s Education System for Diversity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
66.
Retief-VenterEDe VilliersC (2013) The accounting profession’s influence on academe: South African evidence. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal26(8): 1246–1278.
67.
RichardOCKirbySL (1999) Organizational justice and the justification of work force diversity programs. Journal of Business and Psychology14(1): 109–118.
68.
SaxL (1996) The dynamics of tokenism: How college students are affected by the proportion of women in their major. Research in Higher Education37(4): 389–425.
69.
SchulzeWG (1997) Origin and legal nature of the stokvel (Part 1). South African Mercantile Law Journal9: 18–29.
70.
SimbaoRK (2007) The thirtieth anniversary of the Soweto uprisings: Reading the shadow in Sam Nzima’s iconic photograph of Hector Pieterson. African Arts40(2): 52–69.
71.
Skills Development Act No. 97 of 1998, South Africa.
72.
SoudienC (2008) The intersection of race and class in the South African university: Student experiences. South African Journal of Higher Education22(3): 662–678.
73.
South African Qualifications Act1995, South Africa.
74.
SquiresJ (2005) Is mainstreaming transformative? Theorizing mainstreaming in the context of diversity and deliberation. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society12(3): 366–388.
75.
StakeRE (1995) The Art of Case Study Research. London: SAGE.
76.
SuranskyCVan Der MerweJC (2014) Transcending apartheid in higher education: Transforming an institutional culture. Race, Ethnicity and Education19(3): 577–597.
SwiftK (1991) Life more abundant: A retrospective look at Drum magazine in the 1970s. Drum, June, pp. 35–42.
79.
TerenziniPCabrearAColbeckCBjorklundSParenteJ (2001) Racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom: Does it promote student learning?Journal of Higher Education72(5): 509–531.
80.
TerreblancheS (2002) A History of Inequality in South Africa, 1652–2002. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: University of Natal Press.
VincentL (2008) The limitations of ‘inter-racial contact’: Stories from young South Africa. Ethnic and Racial Studies31(8): 1426–1451.
83.
VoletSEAngG (1998) Culturally mixed groups on international campuses: An opportunity for inter-cultural learning. Higher Education Research and Development17(1): 5–23.
84.
WamstedJO (2012) Borges and bike riders: Toward an understanding of autoethnography. Qualitative Research in Education1(2): 179–201.
85.
WhittEJNoraAEdisonMITerenziniPTPascarellaET (1999) Women’s perceptions of a ‘chilly climate’ and cognitive outcomes in college: Additional evidence. Journal of College Student Development40(2): 163–177.
