James Benjamin Department of Accounting at Mays Business School ranks first in the nation for underrepresented groups among Ph.D. students and faculty

James Benjamin Department of Accounting at Mays Business School ranks first in the nation for underrepresented groups among Ph.D. graduates and faculty 

Survey finds Texas A&M’s accounting program has most underrepresented Ph.D. graduates and faculty in U.S.

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An article forthcoming in the peer-reviewed American Accounting Association Journal, Issues in Accounting Education, has found that the James Benjamin Department of Accounting at Mays Business School has the most underrepresented Ph.D. graduates and the most underrepresented accounting faculty of any top business school in the country.

The essay, the first-ever report of its kind on the state of the accounting academy, “Towards a More Inclusive Accounting Academy,” details the state of underrepresented minority Ph.D. students and faculty in the top 50 accounting departments. The number of underrepresented minorities has nearly tripled in the last 24 years, largely to the credit of The Ph.D. Project. However, despite almost tripling, the proportion of underrepresented minority faculty remains less than 5% of all accounting Ph.D. faculty.

Nate Sharp, Ph.D., the Nelson D. Durst Endowed Chair in Accounting and head of the James Benjamin Department of Accounting said, “Although we would all acknowledge that these results represent only one of many ways to measure a program’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the overall numbers of underrepresented faculty and Ph.D. students across the academy are low, I am proud that our department is receiving recognition for its longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion among Ph.D. students and faculty.”

In 2015, Mays Business School began strategic planning by utilizing an inclusive process. Within Mays, whoever wanted to have a hand or a voice in the creation of the plan was invited to contribute. The school held multiple town halls and provided multiple ways to engage. One outcome of that strategic plan that has spanned from 2017 and goes through 2021 is Strategic Initiative #1 – Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement.

Eli Jones, Ph.D., dean of Mays Business School said, “Mays will continue to transform lives as we live up to our mission to be a vibrant learning organization that creates impactful research and develops Mays transformational leaders. We’ll accomplish that together, in a way that builds others up, includes diverse perspectives and people, promotes equality, and delivers outcomes like a sense of belonging.”

Sharp concluded by saying, “To be sure, we have lots of work still to do; but it is gratifying to be a part of a leading accounting program in this important area.”

The James Benjamin Department of Accounting is currently ranked #2 in U.S., Accounting Today’s CPA Success Index (2020), #2 in the U.S., Master’s in Accounting, Eduniversal (2019) and #13, public graduate program, U.S. News & World Report (2021).

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