The advantages of separateness explaining the unusual profession-university link in English Chartered Accountancy

Within the sociology of the professions, the link between the professions and the universities has come to be seen as natural and ineluctable because of their common association with knowledge [Abbott A. The System of Professions, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL; 1988]. There is a consensus in the literature that the link brings all round benefit to a professional occupation and that the active pursuit of such a link is an important component of the professionalization process. England's largest and most prestigious accountancy body – the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – however stands out as an empirical anomaly in that it has not developed its training, education or certification within the university sector. In this paper we suggest that, although not fulfilling many of the roles traditionally attributed to the university in professional life, the university in general and academic departments of accounting in particular have played a number of crucial roles in establishing and reinforcing the high status of ICAEW members. This unique and arguably anomalous relationship, we argue, has contributed to the success of ICAEW members when competing with related and rival occupational groups both for jurisdictions and for new recruits. In turn, accounting academia in England has derived a number of unique benefits.