Khan, Sadia Hasan (2020) Three papers in career dynamics in the accounting profession : evidence from chartered accountants in Bangladesh. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This study examines career dynamics of chartered accountants (CAs) in Bangladesh. By conducting 43 interviews with CAs in Bangladesh, I examine the reasons why CAs are underrepresented in the country compared with other professions. Through three papers, I show what happens to their careers when they work in two proximate fields, how their socioeconomic backgrounds and work–life balance affect their careers and, more importantly, whether their habitus plays a role. In addition, I provide new evidence of why the presence of international firms in Bangladesh is tentative, what factors determine links between international and local firms, and how local firms are linked with international firms, including the Big 4. I provide some interesting findings and thereby extend the literature in particular Belal et al. (2017) and Spence et al. (2016). In Paper 1, I show that the accounting field is less dominated by commercial concerns and find no evidence that CAs’ movements relate to high workloads or burn-out, nor to issues with work–family life balance. More generally, CAs in Bangladesh feel strongly about the profession. By using Bourdieu’s work as my theoretical framework for the study, I show how capitals accumulated in one field retain value in a proximate field. In paper 2, I claim that global professional service firms (GPSFs) need a better understanding of local contexts, as a “one size fits all” strategy for expanding into new markets does not always work and despite some economic, social and cultural obstacles, changes to the economy and to perceptions of audit firms and their partners are leading to changes in how these partners perceive the potential benefits of full membership or affiliation. Finally, in Paper 3, I show that female CAs’ habitus helps in their career progression and claim that class seems to override gender-related constraints on the career progression of female CAs in Bangladesh. Overall, the thesis demonstrates that accounting fields are not uniform across borders and that gender, class, cultural and social dynamics all combine to shape economic activity and professional careers in novel ways within specific national arenas.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5601 Accounting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Accountants -- Bangladesh, Career development -- Bangladesh, Vocational guidance -- Bangadesh
Official Date:	September 2020
Dates:	Date Event September 2020 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Warwick Business School
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Spence, Crawford ; Anderson-Gough, Fiona
Sponsors:	Warwick Business School
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	139 leaves : colour illustrations
Language:	eng

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