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Transforming identities: Accounting professionals and the transition to motherhood

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  • Haynes, Kathryn

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the experience of motherhood and employment within the UK accounting profession, by examining the oral history narratives of a small group of accountants who have recently become mothers and returned to work. Drawing from contemporary theories on identity, it considers how individuals make sense of the different social identities of accountant and mother, and to what extent social, institutional and cultural factors shape and restrict the ways in which the self is experienced. It also explores the implications for both the self and the accounting profession of interconnections and juxtapositions between the ostensibly private sphere of the home and the public sphere of employment. It suggests that as the identities of mother and accountant are entwined, they undertake a process of redefinition and transformation of the self.

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  • Haynes, Kathryn, 2008. "Transforming identities: Accounting professionals and the transition to motherhood," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 620-642.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:19:y:2008:i:5:p:620-642
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2006.10.003
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    Cited by:

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    10. Sheerin, Corina & Garavan, Thomas, 2022. "Female leaders as ‘Superwomen’: Post-global financial crisis media framing of women and leadership in investment banking in UK print media 2014–2016," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    11. Sophie Hennekam & Jawad Syed & Faiza Ali & Jean-Pierre Dumazert, 2019. "A multilevel perspective of the identity transition to motherhood," Post-Print hal-03232775, HAL.
    12. Gatrell, Caroline Jane, 2011. "'I'm a bad mum': Pregnant presenteeism and poor health at work," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 478-485, February.
    13. Baker, Darren T & Brewis, Deborah N, 2020. "The melancholic subject: A study of self-blame as a gendered and neoliberal psychic response to loss of the ‘perfect worker’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Janne Järvinen, 2009. "Shifting NPM agendas and management accountants' occupational identities," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(8), pages 1187-1210, October.
    15. Galizzi, Giovanna & McBride, Karen & Siboni, Benedetta, 2024. "Patriarchy persists: Experiences of barriers to women's career progression in Italian accounting academia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Kokot-Blamey, Patrizia, 2021. "Mothering in accounting: Feminism, motherhood, and making partnership in accountancy in Germany and the UK," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    17. Davie, Shanta S.K., 2008. "An autoethnography of accounting knowledge production: Serendipitous and fortuitous choices for understanding our social world," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1054-1079.
    18. Rautiainen, Antti & Scapens, Robert W. & Järvenpää, Marko & Auvinen, Tommi & Sajasalo, Pasi, 2024. "Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    19. Clare Mumford & Krystal Wilkinson & Michael Carroll, 2023. "“Potential parenthood” and identity threats: Navigating complex fertility journeys alongside work and employment," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 982-998, May.
    20. Lima, João Paulo Resende de & Casa Nova, Silvia Pereira de Castro & Vendramin, Elisabeth de Oliveira, 2024. "Sexist academic socialization and feminist resistance: (de)constructing women’s (dis)placement in Brazilian accounting academia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    21. Emily T. Porschitz & Elizabeth A. Siler, 2017. "Miscarriage in the Workplace: an Authoethnography," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 565-578, November.
    22. Kyriacou, Orthodoxia, 2016. "Accounting for images of ‘equality’ in digital space: Towards an exploration of the Greek Accounting Professional Institute," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 35-57.
    23. Mai Chi Vu & Hyemi Shin & Nicholas Burton, 2024. "“We are Neither Commies nor Volunteers”: How National Culture Influences Professional Identity Construction of CSR Professionals in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 195-213, April.
    24. Walaa Wahid ElKelish*, 2023. "Accounting for Corporate Human Rights: Literature Review and Future Insights," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(2), pages 203-226, June.
    25. Haynes, Kathryn, 2017. "Accounting as gendering and gendered: A review of 25 years of critical accounting research on gender," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 110-124.

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