The Finance Department at CUNEF University examines wage gaps across social classes in public accounting

The Finance Department at CUNEF University organized the seminar “The Social Class Wage Gap in Public Accounting: Does Socioeconomic Background Play a Role?”, an academic session featuring contributions from Daniel Aobdia, Irina Gazizova, and Henrik Nilsson.

The event was led by Ting Dong, Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. Her presentation examined the current wage gap across social classes in the auditing profession, taking as a starting point two decades of Swedish administrative data from a society often regarded as highly egalitarian and meritocratic.

The seminar addressed wage differences across professional levels within major audit firms, as well as the role of management practices among certified public accountants (CPAs), performance gaps, and patterns of workplace segregation across socioeconomic groups.

As Ting Dong noted, beyond differences in economic and professional outcomes, “class inequality also affects mental health. We observe that auditors from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with depression, indicating that the psychological burdens of the profession fall disproportionately on those from less privileged backgrounds”.

The presentation sparked interest among students and faculty and highlighted the variations in meritocracy within public accounting. It also emphasized the role of major audit firms in ensuring equal opportunities and addressing systemic inequalities based on social class.