IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/accted/v16y2007i1p3-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Professionalizing Claims and the State of UK Professional Accounting Education: Some Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Prem Sikka
  • Colin Haslam
  • Orthodoxia Kyriacou
  • Dila Agrizzi

Abstract

In advancing the 'professionalizing' claims, the UK accountancy bodies emphasise that their members have command of practical and theoretical education, engage in ethical conduct, serve the public interest and act in a socially responsible way. However, such claims are routinely problematized by scandals that highlight the highly partisan role of accounting and accountants and failures of accounting education. Rather than undertaking a radical review of accounting education, the professional bodies seek to rebuild confidence in accounting and their jurisdictions by (re)affirming that accounting education is or will be devoted to producing reflective accountants through educational processes focussing on sound education principles, ethics, professional scepticism, lifelong learning opportunities, distinguishing between private and public interest and serving the public interest. These promises presuppose that students on professional accounting courses are exposed to such values. To advance the debate, this paper examines a number of financial accounting, auditing and management accounting books and finds that, beyond a technical and instrumental view of accounting, there is little discussion of theories, principles, ethics, public interest, globalization, scandals or social responsibility to produce socially reflective accountants.

Suggested Citation

  • Prem Sikka & Colin Haslam & Orthodoxia Kyriacou & Dila Agrizzi, 2007. "Professionalizing Claims and the State of UK Professional Accounting Education: Some Evidence," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 3-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accted:v:16:y:2007:i:1:p:3-21
    DOI: 10.1080/09639280601150921
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09639280601150921
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09639280601150921?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stergios Leventis & Pauline Weetman, 2004. "Timeliness of financial reporting: applicability of disclosure theories in an emerging capital market," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 43-56.
    2. den Hartog, D.N. & Boselie, J.P.P.E.F. & Paauwe, J., 2004. "Performance Management: A model and research agenda," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-068-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    3. Duxbury, Darren & Keasey, Kevin & Zhang, Hao & Chow, Shue Loong, 2005. "Mental accounting and decision making: Evidence under reverse conditions where money is spent for time saved," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 567-580, August.
    4. Robert Kirk & Anthony Wall, 2002. "The Private Finance Initiative: Has the Accounting Standards Board Reduced the Scheme's Value for Money?," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 529-547, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Key, Kimberly & Healy, Margaret & Mulligan, Emer, 2022. "Closing the cultural intelligence skills gap in accounting students: An action research approach to cross-cultural teamwork," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(3).
    2. Crawford, Louise & Helliar, Christine & Monk, Elizabeth & Veneziani, Monica, 2014. "International Accounting Education Standards Board: Organisational legitimacy within the field of professional accountancy education," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 67-89.
    3. Collison, David & Ferguson, John & Kozuma, Yoshinao & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2011. "The impact of introductory accounting courses on student perceptions about the purpose of accounting information and the objectives of business: A comparison of the UK and Japan," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-60.
    4. Sikka, Prem & Willmott, Hugh, 2010. "The dark side of transfer pricing: Its role in tax avoidance and wealth retentiveness," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 342-356.
    5. William F. Miller & Tara J. Shawver, 2018. "An Exploration of the State of Ethics in UK Accounting Education," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1109-1120, December.
    6. Sikka, Prem, 2015. "The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: Some evidence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 46-62.
    7. Brivot, Marion & Cho, Charles H. & Kuhn, John R., 2015. "Marketing or parrhesia: A longitudinal study of AICPA's shifting languages in times of turbulence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 23-43.
    8. Sikka, Prem, 2009. "Commentary on Roy Suddaby, Yves Gendron and Helen Lam "the organizational context of professionalism in accounting"," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 428-432, April.
    9. Lehman, Glen, 2010. "Perspectives on accounting, commonalities & the public sphere," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 724-738.
    10. Duff, Angus & Marriott, Neil, 2017. "The teaching-research gestalt in accounting: A cluster analytic approach," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 413-428.
    11. Athanasios MANDILAS & Dimitrios KOURTIDIS & Giannoula FLOROU & Stavros VALSAMIDIS, 2016. "Accounting Education And Research In Relation To Business Needs," Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, University of Pitesti, vol. 15(3), pages 3-12.
    12. Sikka, Prem, 2009. "Financial crisis and the silence of the auditors," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 868-873, August.
    13. Byrne, Marann & Flood, Barbara & Hassall, Trevor & Joyce, John & Arquero Montaño, Jose Luis & González González, José María & Tourna-Germanou, Eleni, 2012. "Motivations, expectations and preparedness for higher education: A study of accounting students in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Greece," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 134-144.
    14. Ferguson, John & Collison, David & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2009. "Constructing meaning in the service of power: An analysis of the typical modes of ideology in accounting textbooks," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 896-909.
    15. Özgür Özmen Uysal, 2010. "Business Ethics Research with an Accounting Focus: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1988 to 2007," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 137-160, April.
    16. Marwan Ibrahim Alfadhli & Omar Jamaat & Khalid Al-Joki & Adam Al-Hweij, 2018. "The Development of Accounting Education in Light of the Information Revolution and its Impact on University Graduates: Applied Study on Graduates of Tripoli University Benghazi (2012-2017)," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(5), pages 293-310, May.
    17. Irene Gordon, 2011. "Lessons to be Learned: An Examination of Canadian and U.S. Financial Accounting and Auditing Textbooks for Ethics/Governance Coverage," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 29-47, June.
    18. Hopper, Trevor, 2013. "Making accounting degrees fit for a university," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 127-135.
    19. Apostolou, Barbara & Hassell, John M. & Rebele, James E. & Watson, Stephanie F., 2010. "Accounting education literature review (2006–2009)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 145-197.
    20. Edison Fredy León Paime, 2019. "Elementos significativos en la construcción discursiva de la autoridad profesoral contable: aprendizajes metodológicos," Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, vol. 27(1), pages 125-140, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Les Worrall & Kim Mather & Roger Seifert, 2010. "Solving the Labour Problem Among Professional Workers in the UK Public Sector: Organisation Change and Performance Management," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 117-137, June.
    2. Decramer, Adelien & Audenaert, Mieke & Van Waeyenberg, Thomas & Claeys, Tine & Claes, Claudia & Vandevelde, Stijn & van Loon, Jos & Crucke, Saskia, 2015. "Does performance management affect nurses’ well-being?," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 98-105.
    3. Amelia Manuti & Maria Luisa Giancaspro & Monica Molino & Emanuela Ingusci & Vincenzo Russo & Fulvio Signore & Margherita Zito & Claudio Giovanni Cortese, 2020. "“Everything Will Be Fine”: A Study on the Relationship between Employees’ Perception of Sustainable HRM Practices and Positive Organizational Behavior during COVID19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Duxbury, Darren, 2012. "Sunk costs and sunk benefits: A re-examination of re-investment decisions," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 144-156.
    5. Clatworthy, Mark A. & Peel, Michael J., 2016. "The timeliness of UK private company financial reporting: Regulatory and economic influences," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 297-315.
    6. Christopher Y. Olivola & Stephanie W. Wang, 2016. "Patience auctions: the impact of time vs. money bidding on elicited discount rates," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 19(4), pages 864-885, December.
    7. Alharthi, Amal & Cortese, Corinne & Moerman, Lee & Tanima, Farzana, 2022. "Surveillance capitalism in the middle east retail sector," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Kulno Türk & Tõnu Roolaht, 2005. "A Comparison Of The Appraisal Systems And Appraisal-Compensation Interlinks Used By Estonian Public And Private Universities," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 41, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    9. Muhammad Wassem & Sajjad Ahmad Baig & Muhammad Abrar & Muhammad Hashim & Muhammad Zia-Ur-Rehman & Usman Awan & Fiza Amjad & Yasir Nawab, 2019. "Impact of Capacity Building and Managerial Support on Employees’ Performance: The Moderating Role of Employees’ Retention," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, July.
    10. Bernadette Kamleitner & Erich Kirchler, 2006. "Personal loan users’ mental integration of payment and consumption," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 281-294, December.
    11. Alfes, Kerstin & Shantz, Amanda & Truss, Catherine & Soane, Emma, 2013. "The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42345, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. David Carassus & Christophe Favoreu & Damien Gardey & Christophe Maurel, 2015. "Performance management in the local public sector in France : an administrative rather than a political model," Post-Print hal-02152510, HAL.
    13. Shu-Yi Liaw & Thi Mai Le, 2017. "Under Interruptive Effects of Rarity and Mental Accounting, Whether the Online Purchase Intention Can Still Be Enhanced Even with Higher Search Costs and Perceived Risk," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(8), pages 160-160, July.
    14. Pierre Volle, 2007. "Les arbitrages budgétaires des consommateurs : bilan critique des connaissances et perspectives de recherche," Post-Print halshs-00164833, HAL.
    15. Hans Dijk & Marloes Engen & Jaap Paauwe, 2012. "Reframing the Business Case for Diversity: A Values and Virtues Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 73-84, November.
    16. Audenaert, Mieke & Vanderstraeten, Alex & Buyens, Dirk & Sebastian Desmidt, 2014. "Does alignment elicit competency-based HRM? A systematic review," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 25(1), pages 5-26.
    17. Jouxtel, Justine, 2019. "Voluntary contributions of time: Time-based incentives in a linear public goods game," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 75(PA).
    18. Anna C. Nehles & Maarten van Riemsdijk & Irene Kok & Jan Kees Looise, 2006. "Implementing Human Resource Management Successfully: A First-Line Management Challenge," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 17(3), pages 256-273.
    19. Punj, Girish, 2012. "Income effects on relative importance of two online purchase goals: Saving time versus saving money?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 634-640.
    20. Luu, Trong Tuan & Rowley, Chris & Vo, Thanh Thao, 2019. "Addressing employee diversity to foster their work engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 303-315.

    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:taf:accted:v:16:y:2007:i:1:p:3-21. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAED20 .

    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.