Socialisation of junior auditors

Background

The research project is unique in that no previous research has captured the ongoing socialization process in a coherent larger population of individuals and in that, we have been able to secure access to individuals within the major audit firms, workplaces that constitute the core of the audit profession. In late 2019 we distributed a questionnaire to newly hired auditors assistants in the big 6 firms that will be complemented with three more waves, to study if and how their attitudes change as they are more and more socialized into becoming an independent auditor.

External project members:

Thomas Carrington, Åbo Academy and Gustav Johed, Stockholm University.

Projektmål

he rationale and aim of the project are to contribute to research on the mechanisms of conformity in the audit profession, and professions more generally. Such a focus is, however, also closely intertwined with practical challenges within the audit sector. The audit firms all struggle with retaining candidates and a significant share of the already authorized auditors choose to leave the profession. Our project can shed light on to what extent this can be related to the type of person being recruited and how they experience the socialization process at the auditing firms.

The research question is:

• who chooses (and is selected by the firms) to become an auditor assistant
• and how are auditor assistants trained and formed to become auditors?

Projekt activities

Carrington, Thomas, Johansson-Berg, Tobias, Johed, Gustav and Peter Öhman (2023).
The average professional. In Auditing Transformation: Regulation, Digitalisation and Sustainability (2023) External link, opens in new window., Ed: Marton, Jan, Fredrik Nilsson, and Peter Öhman. Routledge.

Johansson-Berg, T., Johed, G., Carrington, T. (accepted, 2024).
On the role and effects of supervisor feedback sign in auditing: Evidence from a cohort of early career auditors. External link, opens in new window. British Accounting Review.