Making Up Accountants: The Organizational and Professional Socialization of Trainee Chartered Accountants

First published in 1998, this organizational and professional socialization of trainee chartered accountants reports the findings of an ICAEW funded research project which explored the training and socialization of trainee accountants in two Big Six firms in the UK. The background to the research, particularly the under-researched nature of the socialization of accountants, is outlined. The research issues are located within the institutional context of the accounting profession in the UK and the academic literature on the professions and professional socialization. The main research findings reported concern. The main research findings reported concern the development of trainees’ understandings of their professional indentity; the role of formal processes and informal norms within socialization; the relationship of professional identity to notions of client service, firm identity, divisionalization, and career success.