IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v28y2015i8p1198-1216.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scoping an agenda for future research into the professions

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Carter
  • Crawford Spence
  • Daniel Muzio

Abstract

Purpose - – This paper is premised on the understanding that professions remain central means of institutionalising expertise in society. A summary of major issues that are prominent in recent studies of the professions is presented in order to inform the paper’s central objective which is to scope out an agenda for future research in the area. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach - – This is a desk-based study informed by, but not limited to, the other papers appearing in this special issue. Findings - – This paper identifies and summarises a number of central themes: globalisation and neo-imperialism, the role of the state in professional projects, the rise of tax avoidance as a moral issue, the implications of tax professionals moving from the public to the private sector, the study of small-scale accounting firms, the rise of new expert groups and the emergence and implications of new audit spaces. Research limitations/implications - – The value of this paper is in bringing together a number of important but eclectic themes to scope out an agenda for the future study of the accounting profession and expert labour more broadly. The paper questions whether the term profession is still meaningful in a context where many professions have been re-made in the image of commercialism; it suggests that a focus on experts might be more apposite. Originality/value - – In scoping out an agenda this paper calls for greater attention to be paid to: examining the role of experts and their role in some of the major crises of the times; exploring how professions have often undermined their own legitimacy; understanding better the relations between professions and the state; the extent to which the next generation of partners will behave very differently to the current incumbents; the way in which digitalisation opens up new vistas of expertise; and in investigating the position of different expert groups in relation to societal elites. The paper reiterates that major societal issues are framed through various forms of expert knowledge and as a corollary it is essential to engage with experts and the implications of their proposed solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Carter & Crawford Spence & Daniel Muzio, 2015. "Scoping an agenda for future research into the professions," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1198-1216, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:28:y:2015:i:8:p:1198-1216
    DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-09-2015-2235
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2015-2235/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2015-2235/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2015-2235?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Shirley Geyi & Andrew, Brian, 2021. "Competing for the leading role: Trials in categorizing greenhouse and energy auditors," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Pizzi, Simone & Venturelli, Andrea & Variale, Michele & Macario, Giuseppe Pio, 2021. "Assessing the impacts of digital transformation on internal auditing: A bibliometric analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Ashley, Louise & Boussebaa, Mehdi & Friedman, Sam & Harrington, Brooke & Heusinkveld, Stefan & Gustafsson, Stefanie & Muzio, Daniel, 2023. "Professions and inequality: challenges, controversies, and opportunities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119522, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Kohler, Hervé & Pochet, Christine & Gendron, Yves, 2021. "Networks of interpretation: An ethnography of the quest for IFRS consistency in a global accounting firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie & Alshareef, Mohammed Naif & Bazhair, Ayman, 2017. "Accounting professionalization and the state: The case of Saudi Arabia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 29-47.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:28:y:2015:i:8:p:1198-1216. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.