MEMBERS

BAFA Diversity SIG Annual Conference 2025

Thursday 8 - Friday 9 May 2025 Durham Business School, Durham University

The Diversity SIG Annual Conference 2025 will be held on 8–9 May 2025 at Durham Business School, Durham University. The conference will run from 10:00 to 17:00. 

Attendance at the conference dinner (Thursday 8 May) is optional and can be booked separately during the registration process. Jointly organised by BAFA's Diversity Special Interest Group and Durham Business School, Durham University.

Date: Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May
Time: 10:00–17:00 (UK time)
Location: Durham Business School - Durham, UK
Registration Fee: £120 

Download the Conference Schedule 

Equity and diversity in business are now experiencing significant challenges due to evolving political climates. Recent policy shifts, such as US executive orders prohibiting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs among federal contractors, have led major corporations like Deloitte, Google, and Goldman Sachs to scale back or eliminate their DEI initiatives in certain locations. This political opposition signals an every-increasing need for reliable, informed research, education and action on workplace inclusivity and the advancement of underrepresented groups.

Join us in Durham as we work to explore the future of diversity in business within changing political and environmental contexts. Learn more about EDI best practice and research through a program of research paper presentations, industry round table discussions, keynote presentations, and presentations by industry members. Learn from leading EDI practice in a setting conducive to scholarly inquiry, collaborative practice, and support. With plenty of opportunity to network, engage and share ideas with those interested in advancing EDI within the Accounting and Finance Professions.

Keynote Presenters

Dr Iwi Ugiagbe-Green. Iwi has over 20 years’ experience of working in higher education and nearly 15 years’ experience of supporting students in higher education. She is Reader and a Learning Enhancement and Education Development (LEED) institutional innovation scholar at Manchester Metropolitan University, with strategic responsibility for degree award gaps and differential outcomes. She describes herself as an academic activist and anti-racism scholar. In the last five years her research has focused on race equity issues within the context of student education, experience, transition, and progression to graduate labour market and postgraduate study. She developed the very successful OfS/UKRI funded ASPIRE programme and STRIVE 100 programme. Both programmes have supported student success and led to incredible outcomes of groups of students, who are typically awarded lower degree awards or employment outcomes than other student groups.

Professor Meghna Sabharwal. Meghna  is a Full professor in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT-Dallas and Associate Provost for Faculty Success. Her research expertise lies in public human resource management, specifically workforce diversity and inclusion, job performance, job satisfaction, and high-skilled migration. She has published over 50 peer reviewed journal articles in public administration journals, and is the winner of three best paper awards. She also has two book publications: Public Personnel Administration (6th Ed.) and Public Administration in South Asia: India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and has a forthcoming book titled: A Public Administrator’s Guide to Human Resources Information Systems. She has presented in over 150 national and international conferences and invited talks. Professor Meghna will offer a critical analysis of the current political landscape in the United States, exploring how recent developments are affecting—and potentially reshaping—the rights of diverse communities. Her talk will unpack the intersections of policy, identity, and power, providing insight into the challenges and implications for equity and inclusion in today’s context.

Registration

Opens: 6 March 2025
Closes: 6 May 2025 (midnight BST)

Fee: £120

Lunch as well as tea, coffee and nibbles are included in the registration fee.

Registration is via your BAFA Membership Account — click the 'Register for an Event' button, where you will find a list of events.

>> REGISTER <<

Please note: You must be a member of BAFA to attend this event. To register as a member of BAFA, please visit the link: https://www.bafa.ac.uk/membership/

Call for Papers

Deadline: 31 March 2025 (Midnight GMT)

We invite contributions to the BAFA Diversity SIG Annual Conference 2025. The Diversity SIG conference is an annual event supported by the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA), Diversity SIG. It brings together scholars from a range of disciplines and backgrounds with an interest in studying equity, diversity and inclusion in accounting and finance broad practices and professions.

Indicative topics include:

  • Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the accounting field, encompassing gender, race, sexuality, queer accounting, faith, disability, age, linguistics, neurodiversity and cultural diversity.
  • Inclusion and exclusion dynamics, boundaries of inclusion/exclusion, and the implications of capitalism to all forms of diversity.
  • Accounting’s relationship with globalisation, imperialism, decolonialism, and postcolonial perspectives in the context of diversity, including immigration and its inclusion/exclusion dynamics.
  • Diversity, vulnerability and forms of violence, including ethical, symbolic, verbal, and physical violence in accounting spaces.
  • EDI in accounting practices, reporting, disclosure, and accountability, recognising overlooked, underappreciated, or marginalised accounting practices.
  • The role of accounting in shaping EDI accountability, expanding or restricting its definitions and practices, and addressing issues of unaccountability.
  • The intersection of accounting with activism, social conflict, and movements advocating for change in the context of EDI.
  • Diversity and accounting in the public sector, including understanding contemporary political contexts, public accountability for EDI, and the intersection of public budgeting and EDI.
  • Accounting education, including dialogic pedagogy and decolonisation of curriculum.
  • EDI in the accounting profession, including its institutions, regulatory frameworks, key stakeholders, prevailing trends, and overall influence.
  • EDI and accounting in the context of corporate governance, along with its limitations and critiques.
  • EDI in corporate organisations/boards
  • Historical and contemporary perspectives on accounting practices and their evolution in the context of diversity.
  • The interaction between accounting and popular culture, including its representation in social media and everyday financial activities.
  • Ethical considerations in accounting, auditing, and professional financial services, including the role of accounting in shaping values, valuation methods, economisation, and financialisation.

Submissions

Please submit your abstract of 500–1,000 words by midnight (GMT) on 31 March 2025 to the Diversity SIG email account: diversity-sig@bafa.ac.uk. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 4 April 2025. Earlier submissions are highly encouraged, and acceptances will be provided on a rolling basis.

Participants will have the opportunity to share additional materials (digital hand-outs, slides, longer abstracts, full papers) prior to the event. Full papers are desirable but not a pre-requisite for presenting at the conference.

Questions?

Please get in touch via diversity-sig@bafa.ac.uk if you have any queries.

This event is proudly provided with in-kind support by: 

BAFA's Diversity Special Interest Group aims to enhance and support diversity in accounting and finance education, research and practice. The Diversity SIG ensures this is achieved by actively creating a professional space for diversity accounting and finance researchers and educators that seeks the broad inclusion and active engagement of multiple perspectives, experiences, and ideas in accounting and finance education, research, and practice. The Diversity SIG further seeks to create an awareness of diversity matters that impact research, education and practice as well as enhancing and supporting the professional development of all academics and doctoral students.

Durham Business School, Durham University is a globally renowned centre of teaching and research excellence. A member of the prestigious Russell Group of Universities. It consistently ranks as one of the top 100 universities in the world by the QS World University Rankings. Durham University is committed to providing equality of opportunity, valuing diversity, and promoting a culture of inclusion.