Chinese Accountants in Canada

Abstract

This dissertation examines Chinese accounting professionals in Canada. Existing studies on Chinese accountants have paid little attention to their racialization as model minorities and its potential impacts, and this dissertation seeks to fill this gap. Chapter 1 discusses the overall contextual environment for Chinese accountants in Canada. Using census data, it finds that Chinese minorities are highly and disproportionately represented at regular employee and middle management levels within the profession but are far less represented in senior management positions. Chapter 2 focuses on their experiences working in the profession. Using semi-structured interviews, the chapter shows that Chinese professionals face a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the participants experienced few difficulties breaking into the accounting profession. But on the other hand, they perceive a barrier at middle management that prevents them from advancing to senior management. The chapter explains these findings using the theory of racial triangulation, arguing that Chinese minorities are valorised as the model minority but ostracised as the forever foreigner. The chapter contributes to the literature by advancing the notion of Chinese identity as a double-edged sword. Chapter 3 examines how the participants acted in response to their experiences and perceptions. Using semi-structured interviews with the same participants, the chapter discusses a variety of actions they undertook. In the workplace, interviewees focused on showing the qualities associated with Chinese workers in line with the model minority myth. However, in response to the bamboo ceiling and the ostracization side of racial triangulation, their main reactions were to leave the accounting firms or target areas within firms like tax that had high numbers of Chinese workers. The chapter also finds that the characterization of Chinese immigrants as model minorities and the perceived advantage this characterization brings for entry-level positions may be encouraging them to pursue careers in accounting. To explain these findings, the chapter employs the “ideal” type alternative career paths framework. The chapter makes a contribution by extending this framework to the accounting field and showing that a potential link exists between the racial triangulation of Chinese professionals in accounting and their career-related behaviors.