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

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  • 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
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    Cited by:

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    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.
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    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.
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    9. 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.
    10. Lehman, Glen, 2010. "Perspectives on accounting, commonalities & the public sphere," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 724-738.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Sikka, Prem, 2009. "Financial crisis and the silence of the auditors," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 868-873, August.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Hopper, Trevor, 2013. "Making accounting degrees fit for a university," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 127-135.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.

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