‘All sorts and conditions of men’: The social origins of the founders of the ICAEW

Anderson, Malcolm; Walker, Stephen

doi:10.1016/j.bar.2008.09.002

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This stance is reinforced by accounting literature that has portrayed the accountancy profession as socially exclusive (see e.g. Grey 1998, Jacobs 2003, Anderson and Walker 2009, James and Otsuka 2009.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Paisey

Tarbert

et al. 2019

Accounting and Business Research

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Using the work of Bourdieu and Savage, this paper investigates social class and social mobility among chartered accountants who qualified with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in 2009. We find that these accountants tend to come from privileged backgrounds and that those who qualified with Big Four firms possess more economic, social and cultural capital than those who qualify with other firms. Our study provides fresh insights into how elements of social class interact with social background. In contrast with the prevailing view that there is limited social mobility in the accountancy profession, we find some evidence of social mobility, suggesting that current debates are based on contestable assumptions. We also find that chartered accountants from more deprived backgrounds as indicated by childhood postcode often have a father who has a professional or managerial occupation, so are not deprived on all measures. Where those from more deprived backgrounds accessed chartered accountancy careers, this was at the expense of people whose parents held lower rather than higher professional or managerial jobs. This suggests that the most advantaged maintain access to chartered accountancy but those from more middling professional homes are displaced when those from more deprived backgrounds gain access.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Paisey

Tarbert

et al. 2019

Accounting and Business Research

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“…Historically reputational capital related to an individual, but during the first few decades of the twentieth century when the annual audit became a steady fee earner or 'cash cow' for accountancy firms (Anderson and Walker, 2009) the market for accountancy services separated into high and low status providers. Consequently, reputational capital moved its locus closer to the firm rather than individual partners (Hanlon, 2004).…”

Section: Symbolic Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social mobility and Fair Access to the accountancy profession in the UK

Duff

2017

AAAJ

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Social mobility and Fair Access to the accountancy profession in the United Kingdom:Evidence from Big Four and mid-tier firms Abstract Purpose. This paper considers how Big Four and mid-tier accountancy firms in the United Kingdom (UK) are responding to political concerns about social mobility and Fair Access to the accountancy profession.Design/methodology/approach. Interviews were undertaken with 18 public accountancy firms, ranked in the Top 30 by fee income, operating in the UK to identify how they are recruiting staff in the light of the Fair Access to the Professions' agenda. Bourdieusian sociology is used to inform the findings. Findings. The Big Four firms employ a discourse of hiring 'the brightest and the best' to satisfy perceived client demand, where symbolic capital is instantiated by reputational capital, reflecting prestige and specialisation, supported by a workforce with elite credentials. For mid-tier firms, reputational capital is interpreted as the need for individuals to service a diverse client portfolio. In general, most interviewees demonstrated relatively limited awareness of the issues surrounding the Fair Access agenda. Research implications/limitations. The interviews with accountancy firms are both exploratory and cross-sectional. Furthermore, the study was undertaken at an embryonic point (2010) in the emerging Fair Access discourse. Future work considering the accountancy profession could usefully examine if, and how, matters have progressed. Social implications. The investigation finds accountancy firms remain relatively socially exclusive, largely due to the requirement for high educational entry standards, and interviewees' responses indicate generally only limited attempts at engagement with political agendas of promoting Fair Access to the profession.Originality/value. The paper: is the first to empirically evaluate how the accountancy profession is responding to the Fair Access agenda; documents changing patterns of recruitment in accountancy employment, including the hiring of non-graduates to undertake professional work; and augments the literature considering social class and accounting. investment banking with 1,800 positions). The importance of accountancy to the graduate employment market cannot be understated. At the same time, the accountancy industry in the UK is recruiting increased numbers of school-leavers either to: a professional traineeship or to a technician level qualification followed by professional qualification. Higher education no longer provides the sole entry route to UK chartered accountancy today.A vigorous political debate surrounding widening access to higher education and the professions has taken place (e.g. Clegg

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“…His son was at Cambridge, he"d sent him to Rugby. … they were getting up the tone of the profession, they wanted gentlemen in it" (Of Human Bondage,Chapter 36) This is an interesting portrait and there is much in it -the secure socio-economic status juxtaposed at once with the suggestion of recent social advance -which is reflective of themes identified by Anderson and Walker (2009) in their examination of the social origins of the founders of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). While the great majority of founders of the ICAEW experienced upward social mobility and while, indeed, a comparatively large number of founders had working-class origins, that body soon became associated with elitism with the erection of substantial entry barriers subsequent to the granting of a royal charter in 1880 (Anderson and Walker, 2009).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Accountant’s Social Background and Stereotype in Popular Culture: The Novels of Alexander Clark Smith

Evans

Fraser

2010

SSRN Journal

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PurposeThe paper explores the social origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction. Design/methodology/approachThe detective novels of the Scottish chartered accountant Alexander Clark Smith are used as a lens through which to explore the social origins of accountants and the changing popular representations of the accountant (Hopwood, 1994). FindingsThe novels contribute to our understanding of the construction of accounting stereotypes and of the social origins of Scottish accountants. They suggest that, while working class access to the profession was a reality, so was class division within it. In addition, Smith was ahead of contemporary professional discourse in creating a protagonist who combines the positive aspects of the traditional stereotype with qualities of a private-eye action-hero, and who uses accounting skills to uncover corruption and address (social) wrongs. However, this unconventional portrayal may have been incongruent with the image the profession wished to portray. The public image (or stereotype) portrayed by its members would have been as important in signalling and maintaining the profession"s collective status as the recruitment of its leadership from social elites. Originality/valueSmith"s portrayal of accountants in personal and societal settings at a time of profound social change, as well as his background in the Scottish profession, provide a rich source for the study of social origins of Scottish chartered accountancy during the first half of the twentieth century. Further, Smith"s novels are of a popular genre, and innovative in the construction of their hero and of accounting itself; as such they merit attention because of their potential to influence the construction of the accounting stereotype(s) within the popular imagination.

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‘All sorts and conditions of men’: The social origins of the founders of the ICAEW

Cited by 19 publications

References 28 publications

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Deprivation, social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Social mobility and Fair Access to the accountancy profession in the UK

The Accountant’s Social Background and Stereotype in Popular Culture: The Novels of Alexander Clark Smith

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