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Journal of Business Ethics
Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics 4/2017

01.07.2016

Precarious Professionals: (in)Secure Identities and Moral Agency in Neocolonial Context

verfasst von: Kelly Thomson , Joanne Jones

Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics | Ausgabe 4/2017

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Abstract

We contribute to the literature on ethics in the professions by theorizing how global mobility precipitates professional insecurity and constrained moral agency. We present our findings of a study of accountants migrating to Canada. Using postcolonial theory and relational/poststructuralist theories of identity and ethics, we contrast the experiences of marginalized and privileged migrant accountants to show how those with “diverse” social identities are not recognized by professionals in Canada and must seek recognition from Canadian colleagues, employers, and clients to reconstitute their professional identities and moral agency. We discuss the implications of the exclusion and marginalization of professionals for migrants, the profession, and society more generally.
Vorheriger Artikel An Examination of Ethical Influences on the Work of Tax Practitioners
Nächster Artikel Hostile Takeovers—An Analysis Through Just War Theory

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Fußnoten
1
Colonial “superiors” include the countries that make up the United Kingdom while colonial equals include former British colonies known as “settler” colonies or Dominions such as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Canada. Colonial “inferiors” are those colonies with non-white, non-settler populations (Annisette 2003; Poullaos 2009). We use the terms “colonial centre”/“colonial periphery or margins” and colonial superior/inferior interchangeably to refer to the hierarchy of social positions associated with countries common in postcolonial theory. The “west” is used in postcolonial theory to refer to those countries with primarily white populations such as the UK and “settler colonies” as well as the USA and Europe.
 
2
In 2013, the Canadian government introduced several changes to its Federal Skills Program including: a cap of 1000 applicants to be considered per occupation, a greater emphasis on language proficiency and age (younger applicants), and mandatory pre-assessment of education and credentials. In addition, effective January 2015, those applicants who have an employment offer (and confirmation from the employer there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job and that no Canadian worker is available to do the job) are eligible to apply under the Express Entry program. Those applicants are exempt from the cap and are allowed to apply for permanent residency at any time (CIC News2014).
 
3
These poor career outcomes are not isolated to the accounting profession, other regulated professions such as medicine and engineering have similar outcomes.
 
4
These figures are based upon our review of each professional body’s 2014 registration practices report filed with the Ontario Fairness Commissioner. Although it is not a national breakdown, Ontario is the major destination of Canadian immigrants and 45 % of the Canadian accounting profession’s membership is located in Ontario (per CPA Ontario’s 2015 Annual Report, it has 84,000 members).
 
5
This policy follows the assessment requirements of the legacy CA designation. The other two designations, (the CMA and CGA) required that the applicant complete a course in Canadian business law and taxation and have a minimum of 1 year work experience in Canada.
 
6
We use the term privilege in the same way as Leonard (2012) who highlighted how migrants from the colonial centre are privileged as they move around the globe. Hawthorne (2007) uses a similar term, “elite” migrant to refer to those who migrate from Western Europe, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and United States.
 
7
We disguise many of the details that professionals use in describing their backgrounds and current activities to protect their anonymity; however, in so doing we have used terms that enable us to convey to the reader the theoretical relevance of the information e.g., in the quote above we do not include the specific country the participant refers to and instead refer to the region, e.g., India, Pakistan as Southeast Asia. Later we use the term Asia Pacific to refer to China or Philippines. In other cases we refer to a country using a label that conveys its theoretically relevant position in the colonial hierarchy, e.g., colonial equal country M.
 
8
WASP or WASPy are common terms understood by those of British colonial backgrounds as an acronym for a person whose race/ethnicity/religion is “White Anglo Saxon Protestant,” in many parts of Canada also seen as a dominant position in the social hierarchy (Edwards and Walker 2008; Richardson 2010).
 
9
The informant is referring to attestations reports related to financial statements that can only be legally signed by licensed public accountants who are certified and recognized in Canada.
 
10
We disguise date, industry setting and other details to protect the anonymity of the participant.
 
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Metadaten
Titel
Precarious Professionals: (in)Secure Identities and Moral Agency in Neocolonial Context
verfasst von
Kelly Thomson
Joanne Jones
Publikationsdatum
01.07.2016
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in
Journal of Business Ethics / Ausgabe 4/2017
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3218-3

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