The professionalisation of accounting

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Abstract
This paper reviews and considers the possible implications of a significant body of historical research that has gathered momentum throughout the last decade and challenged conventional explanations for accounting's professional status. In place of traditionally espoused professional ideals, such as altruism, ethical behaviour and control of specialised knowledge, this research has drawn attention to the importance of factors such as social class, gender and political acuity in explaining both the closure of the accounting profession and its elevation within the vocational continuum. If such factors are the foundation upon which the profession of accounting was constructed, then observable and persistent discord in accounting practice and theory is perhaps not unexpected. Further, the story told by recent research invites a rethinking of the nature of the accounting profession's privileged status.