An empirical examination of the effects of ethics, disclosure, and signal theory on disciplinary actions within the accounting profession

There has been extensive research examining the relationship between the public mission of the accounting profession and the private interests of its professionals. All professions have been offered a special place within society due to the importance of the functions they perform as well as their stated public missions. In exchange, society delegates specific rights to the professions such as exclusivity of practice, self-discipline, and self-selection of their membership. Existing research suggests that the accounting profession\u27s private interests have potentially encroached upon its public mission. By using the Economic Theory of the Self Regulated Profession, Disclosure Theory, and Signal Theory, testable hypotheses are generated that examine the accounting profession\u27s self-disciplinary function. Specifically, disciplinary actions of the accounting, legal, and medical professions are compared scores of the Defining Issues Test – 2 derived from panel data. Next, Signal Theory is employed to determine if an external mitigate potentially influences the disciplinary actions of the accounting profession. Finally, Disclosure Theory is examined in terms of the number and severity of punishments issued by the legal, medical, and accounting professions. Results of the study find that that the disciplinary actions of the legal, medical, and accounting professions appear benefit their memberships over public mission. However, tests of Signal Theory report increased levels of disciplinary actions during periods of potential external regulation to the profession. Finally, tests of Disclosure Theory suggest that increased transparency of disciplinary actions increase their number and severity

Accounting education at doctoral level : a Canadian perspective with special reference to the demand and supply of academic accountants

This study is a critical analysis of doctoral accounting education. Its mandate is to examine the extent to which existing university programmes in accounting meet the needs of those concerned with the education of academic accountants; to consider ways in which universities could improve options for the education of accountants; to explore the continuing major shortage of accounting faculty; and to analyze the resource requirements, especially human resource requirements and their impact on university based accounting education in Canada.What do we expect from accounting schools? What do we want them to do besides helping to educate accountants? What kind of accounting education do we want them to dispense? Who is the better judge of student needs, the accounting professoriate or the accounting practitioners? Is the relationship between the professoriate and the accounting practitioner symbiotic or a superior-subordinate situation?What can be done to:1) increase the number of applications for admission to accounting Ph. D. programmes?2) shorten the duration of the Ph. D. programme?3) increase non-government financial support to universities?4) improve financial rewards for Ph. D. s?5) market academic accounting as an exciting career?These are typical questions that evolved and were dealt with in this research effort.It is evident that the present state of accounting education in Canada is a cause of deep concern for many who are directly involved with it. The severe shortage of academic accountants coupled with the market demand for better trained, professionally qualified accountants has put a great strain on universities. The demand for a larger commitment to accounting education is occurring at a time when programmes are under severe financial constraints. Given the circumstances, it should not be surprising that there is much discontent with the status of accounting education.This paper researches the educational issues involved and suggests respective educational policies in resolving them. It also explores the accounting labour market and evaluates the ramifications that various policies have upon it. Concentration on particular segments of accounting education is highlighted and justified by the asymmetry that characterizes the contribution of these elements to doctoral education in accounting

The Non-Recognition or Devaluation of Foreign Professional Immigrants Credentials in Canada: The Impact on the Receiving Country (Canada) and the Immigrants

This research thesis is concerned with the problem of the non-recognition or devaluation of the credentials of foreign professional immigrants in Canada. For decades, the Canadian government has admitted large numbers of highly skilled immigrants to support the growth and competitiveness of the Canadian economy. While it is an obvious fact that highly trained emigrants are persuaded to go to Canada where financial rewards are higher, the majority of these foreign professionals face systemic and structural barriers of not having their credentials recognized within the Canadian labor market, and as a result many are often forced into unskilled jobs to survive. The general aim of the thesis is to try and show that the non-recognition of foreign professional credentials in Canada is a serious socio-economic problem that needs urgent and continuous attention by various concerned stakeholders

The marginalized integration accounts of foreign-trained professional migrants in Canada : an analysis of structural and institutional barriers to integration

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Exploring the Career Pathways, Professional Integration and Lived Experiences of Regulated Nurses in Ontario, Canada

In the context of an enduring shortage of nurses, this study explores the career pathways and experiences of immigrant and Canadian-born nurses in two Ontario cities utilizing a qualitative research design consisting of 70 in-depth interviews. Differences in career entry and experiences of workplace conflict across immigration status and race are explored. First, I explore successful immigrants’ pathways into the nursing profession and their social and economic integration into the Canadian economy in light of the traditional assimilation and segmented assimilation theories. The study reveals distinct career pathways taken by foreign-born nurses and Canadian born nurses. While Canadian-born nurses have a shorter and a more direct pathway into nursing, foreign-born nurses, especially IENs and visible minority nurses, face more complex systemic and multidimensional challenges in transitioning into the profession. I conclude from this study that the segmented assimilation theory cannot accurately capture immigrants’ experiences in nursing as it does not take into account the conditions of the labour market. Second, I examine nurses’ conflicts with patients and family members/friends, the sources of the conflicts, the role of racial status, and the coping mechanisms used. I find that racial status influences the experience of conflicts at the workplace. Visible minority nurses experience verbally aggressive behaviours more frequently relative to White nurses. This, I find impedes their integration in the nursing profession. Third, I examine conflicts amongst nurses and the implications of intra-professional conflict for the nursing profession. The findings show that conflicts centre on workloads and tasks, as well as race and age. The study reveals evidence of White nurses engaging in social closure, sometimes excluding and marginalizing visible minority nurses. Nonetheless, I find the response of visible minority nurses’ foster professional unity and not division. This study calls for skilled immigrants seeking nursing integration to be provided with adequate information on the requirements and necessary credentials needed for their professional integration before migration and upon professional entry. Also, the removal of factors that create toxic work environments and reproduce workplace inequality are pertinent in promoting the wellbeing of nurses, their professional integration, and quality healthcare

Caseflow management and the politics of professionalism : lawyers and independent paralegals

Caseflow Management is a public sector program designed to promote effective management of cases through the resolution process in the public court system. Given its public nature caseflow management policy is ultimately an exercise in political will. To date that political will has been dominated by the legal profession which has influenced the Ministry of the Attorney General to limit the term~ of reference for caseflow management and its application to a narrow range of alternatives which are primarily in the interest of the legal profession. This thesis will explain the nature and extent of the politics within the legal profession that impact on caseflow management and demonstrate the potential for better serving the public interest by eXl~anding its terms of reference to incorporate independent paralegals and public / private sector partnerships in the Ontario Provincial Court System for highway traffic offences and other matters of a summary conviction nature

Local Calibration of AASHTOWare® Using Ontario Pavement Management System Data PMS2

Well designed built and maintained pavements will sustain the safe and comfortable transportation of people and goods. Effective monitoring requires information about evolving pavement condition, including details about factors such as pavement distresses, climate conditions and traffic pattern which are important factors impacting the pavement conditions. Keeping track of the degree of distress over time can help extending the pavement life by applying the suitable maintenance and rehabilitation at the right time. Pavement management systems (PMSs) were originally created to archive this kind of data so that decision makers could predict future pavement performance. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) employs an advanced PMS tool, entitled PMS2, to record, store, and analyze data about the current and past pavement performance conditions of its network of 16,500 centre-lane kilometers of freeways, collectors, arterials, and local roads. The research presented in this thesis was focused on the use of PMS2 data for the calibration of flexible pavement performance models coefficients for Ontario as a case study Performance model coefficients were created for application with the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), now known as AASHTOWare®, and were calibrated using statistical tools through a series of analyses of historical pavement condition data that were collected in the field. The data were classified according to pavement type and annual average daily traffic. For this study, three categories were examined and calibrated: low traffic volume (AADT 10,000), and overall network. The spilt in data was Eighty-five percent to be used in calibration development of the performance model calibration coefficients and the remaining fifteen percent of the data were employed for validating the performance models using a variety of statistical tools. A comparison of the results with the field measurements revealed that rutting model coefficients should be locally calibrated for each category. For the low-volume, high-volume, and overall network categories, local calibration produced significant reductions in the rutting root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 30, 37, and 37 %, respectively, and in the IRI showed there was no significant correlation. The procedure and analysis methodology used in the calibration of the performance model coefficients provide a framework for the local calibration of AASHTOWare® based on a comparison of the predicted pavement distress and that documented in the PMS. This work will have important benefits to the transportation agencies as it will enable them to evaluate the feasibility of using the ASHTOWare® Design system to improve pavement management and to enhance future design and construction strategies

Critical engineering pedagogy: curricular peer mentoring as a case study for change in the Canadian neoliberal university

This research explores themes of pedagogy, change, and agency within education systems, by examining the possibility of changing a pedagogical discourse within an undergraduate engineering program through critical pedagogy. Changing that discourse is necessary because engineering, as engineers themselves acknowledge, cannot remain an exclusionary space given its crucial role in shaping our postmodern world. This world is full of tensions: it is defined by a pervasive neoliberalism that values technical knowledge for its commercial utility; however, it also values human rights, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship. If engineering education only focuses on training students to solve technical problems, it risks producing engineering professionals who are unwilling to reflect on, and lack the agency to address, the effects of engineering on individuals, society, and the environment. To address these concerns, this study piloted a peer-based learning program that ran in an undergraduate engineering program at a Canadian university for one semester, returning rich qualitative data on implementing a change process within engineering education. The pilot program was informed by critical pedagogy, and attempted to introduce a specific model of undergraduate peer mentoring, known as curricular peer mentoring, within engineering education to question exclusionary discourses. Therefore, the pilot program primarily acted as a case study into implementing a pedagogical change within engineering education at a program and faculty-level. However, the case study was also used to assess whether introducing curricular peer mentoring within university education generally might produce graduates who are critical thinkers, and able to engage in the academic, professional, and civic discourses within and beyond their chosen fields of study and practice. This is a pressing issue of contemporary university education, for as we enter the ‗Post-Truth Era‖ there is an urgent need to train university graduates to think critically, so they can effectively evaluate social, political, and economic discourses. Finally, as the wider university continues to be impacted by a neoliberal agenda that curtails their agency and shapes their pedagogies, research, and organizational structures, they too must change. The pilot program also provided an exploration of a change process that challenges that neoliberal discourse, while at the same time existing within it