Inclusive Practices in Accounting: Addressing Imposter phenomenon, and preparing students to work together in an inclusive environment

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I usually invite speakers to my classroom to talk about new technologies in accounting. However, after going through this course, I decided to focus not only on talks about accounting technologies but the journey of the speaker to success. This semester, I have invited a former student to talk to my class about how he got into a Big 4 firm in Deloitte and also completed a Masters in Accounting Analytics from USC after graduating from Sac State in 2019. He is a first-generation graduate, and I hope his talk explaining his journey will help my current students overcome the imposter phenomenon. In Spring 2022, I invited a former student from Morgan State University (an HBCU I taught before) to explain how he came out of the imposter phenomenon. He will also talk about the hurdles he faced, how he overcame them and became a successful Partner in a Big four accounting firm.

I am teaching two sections this semester in the classroom. Taking advantage of this, I am making an effort to recognize the behaviors associated with the imposter phenomenon among students early on. After taking the ACUE course, I am on the "lookout" for students who are not participating in the class discussions or seem lost. While looking at the students' grades in assignments and quizzes and asking myself: Is this a student affected by imposter syndrome? After the class, I talk to groups of students and let them know that success has no boundaries, except the ones created by ourselves.

I did find some students struggle with this course initially, and some are almost on the verge of dropping out, thinking that they cannot do it or "do not belong to them." They thought that they were not as adept at technology as others were. However, I have pacified their feelings by giving examples of students who struggled in this course but finally aced up with their efforts. I let them know that not everyone comes with the same knowledge in any course. If someone does not know specific technologies, it may require a little extra effort, but it is not insurmountable. Previous batches also had students like them, who didn't know much about advanced Excel or Tableau and thought they didn't "fit into the class." But, they aced it up by "collaborating with the Professor."

My courses have heavy group projects. Frequently, students complain about other students not working in the group. After learning about team contracts in this ACUE course, I am developing one for the next semester that I will include with the group projects. The team contract will include work ethics, respect for team members, and communication models. Currently, I meet these groups to help them in their technical skills to complete the projects. Next semester, I plan to meet them with the additional objective of learning how they are meeting the goals of the team contracts. Currently, I distribute a survey to find out how team members contribute to the group project. I plan to update the survey to sync with how they fulfill the goals in the team contract.

Evidence
Showing who I am with my name pronounced, and providing flexible office hrs.	Breaking the Group case study into several parts allowed more interactions with group members, and more manageable for students.	LifeLong Learning experience and a certificate!

Final Reflection

We might know certain things, e.g., a student is lagging in assignments and quizzes. But, we may not have explored the cause for the same. This course helps spur us to think about the causes, e.g., imposter syndrome or microaggressions. The ACUE course also helps us develop strategies to mitigate these causes for the overall success of our students, which is our ultimate goal.

Faculty Biography

Faculty Biography
	I completed my PhD. from the University of Kentucky, MBA from Xavier University (Bhubaneswar, India), and my undergraduate degree from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. I have traveled wide and far to teach!! I have taught in India, the USA, France, and UAE. My research is focused on auditing and accounting data analytics. I live in Folsom. I love to take my daughter to the Sac State Aquatic Center and do Kayaking in my free time! I also love traveling all over the globe.

Sponsors
	This work was supported by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and the National Science Foundation (grant #DUE-1832335).