Elmarie Sadler and Jacobus Stephanus Wessels
The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional transformations of gender and race as well as leadership within the South African accounting profession over four decades.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical lens of intersectionality is applied through an autoethnographic approach. Multiple layers of personal experiences and observations are interpreted through identity work of leadership provided and received. Autoethnographic data are substantiated and contextualised through the researchers’ sense-making, official and scholarly sources.
Findings
Sustainable transformation of the accounting profession requires a deepened understanding of the interconnections of the personal, structural and systemic areas within unique contexts. Leadership, as provided and received, must be included within the intersectional orientations. Intersectional orientations become then more significant for understanding progressive changes of the demographic profile of the accounting profession not only in South Africa but also in other countries. The transformation interventions aimed at affirming high-quality black African, coloured and female candidates to the South African accounting profession are founded on the principles of social justice. A sustained reframing of the demographic profile of a profession is possible through accelerated and well-funded collaborative transformation interventions enhancing intentional structural changes of the membership pipeline.
Research limitations/implications
The possible limitations of this study lie in the contextual nature of the material and findings and the lens of the specific theory.
Practical implications
The understanding of the practice of interventions aiming at transforming the country-specific demographic profile of a scarce skills profession such as the accountancy profession.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the application of an intersectional theoretical lens that argues for leadership as a dimension alongside age, gender and race in an autoethnographic sense making of the transformation of the South African accounting profession.
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Marinda Marais, Priscilla A. Burnaby, Susan Hass, Elmarie Sadler and Houdini Fourie
The purpose of this paper is to compare the responses of South African respondents with all Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) 2006 respondents in the areas of compliance with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the responses of South African respondents with all Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) 2006 respondents in the areas of compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors' (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) and several areas of the internal audit activity's (IAA) operations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper summarises and discusses the survey results from questionnaires sent to the IIA members as of September 2006. For selected topics, the CBOK 2006 database is compared for South African respondents and non‐South African respondents.
Findings
The paper finds that South Africans have a higher level of compliance with the Standards than those respondents residing in other parts of the world. Since the internal auditing profession is so young in South Africa, compliance with the Standards gives structure and support to the new IAAs and internal auditors.
Originality/value
This is the first study comparing the status of the South African internal auditing profession with the global state of internal auditing, activities performed by internal auditors and the perception of the IAAs in their organizations.
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Chris Callaghan and Elmarie Papageorgiou
This paper aims to test the theory that predicts differences in locus of control (LOC) by gender and the relationships between LOC and the performance of accounting students in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test the theory that predicts differences in locus of control (LOC) by gender and the relationships between LOC and the performance of accounting students in a large South African university.
Design/methodology/approach
Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to test the applicability of Spector’s (1988) LOC scales as a first-order construct in this context. An exploratory factor analysis was then performed to provide a more fine-grained analysis of subordinate constructs. Three component categories were found to emerge from a test of this widely used LOC questionnaire. These component categories were classified as beliefs about the effectiveness of agency, beliefs about chance and beliefs about networks in the contribution to the attainment of outcomes in working contexts.
Findings
Further tests revealed that female accounting students demonstrate higher LOC in all the three categories. Females were therefore found to have significantly higher levels of both LOC and student performance; yet, the majority of tested items were not significant in their associations, and total LOC was not found to be associated with higher performance for female or male students. Certain individual items were, however, found to be associated with performance for male students. It is concluded that despite the predictions of seminal theory that predicts convergence around gender, or more egalitarian outcomes in high-skilled contexts over time, accounting student performance in this context might currently be dominated by females. This reflects a current general dominance of females in higher educational attainment and in employment numbers in educational contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of the study include: first, the use of a single university; second, a sample of only first-year accounting students. It is not known whether these findings generalise beyond accounting students with similar university environments. This research is also not causal in nature. The statistical testing used in this study cannot indicate causality.
Originality/value
It is recommended that further research investigate the more fine-grained dimensions of LOC that can contribute to accounting student performance and that further qualitative or causal research is performed to “surface” the causal mechanisms that underlie these findings. The value of this research is in the fact that it tests theory that predicts differences in LOC and the relationships between LOC and performance in an important formative context of accounting.