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The odyssey of becoming: Professional identity and insecurity in the Canadian accounting field

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  • Guo, Ken H.

Abstract

What does it mean to be a professional in accounting? Drawing on a comprehensive set of empirical materials, this paper provides a rich account of how accountants made sense of their professional identities in the context of the unification of three Canadian accounting associations. In a sharp contrast to what prior studies have examined in terms of knowledge, personal trait, and presentationalism, this paper reveals that professional identity is often construed by accountants in terms of self-privileged standing in perceived social pecking orders (identity ranking) and in terms of professional life journey (identity experiencing). Self-privileged standing is about how one is positioned and compared with others; professional life journey, on the other hand, entails not just the past but also the future and is laden with cognition, meanings, and emotions. These two aspects of professional identity are co-constitutive and feed each other for accountants’ identity work, in which the sense of professional security (or insecurity) plays an important role. This paper in its totality highlights the dynamic, fluid nature of professional identity. But more importantly, this paper points to the problematic hollowing out of the very meaning of the term “professional” in the accounting field.

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  • Guo, Ken H., 2018. "The odyssey of becoming: Professional identity and insecurity in the Canadian accounting field," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:56:y:2018:i:c:p:20-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2017.10.008
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