Search

This is a qualitative study which draws on the interpretivist tradition to research the processes by which Chartered Accountant (CA) students begin to develop their sense of professional identity. The thesis draws upon recent research on identity in early professional learning, in particular the aspects of becoming and belonging through which people enter into a community of practice. The purpose of the research is to understand the developing professional identity of students of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (CA Students). In order to develop this understanding, data gathered at a number of focus groups at which CA Students were the participants, have been analysed. The transcripts from these focus groups are the primary source of data. This was analysed thematically and metaphorically in order to explore the senses that CA Students were making of their own entry into the accountancy profession. The analysis was used inductively to produce a resulting theory which has developed as a Professional Identity Map of the CA Student (PIMCAS). It elaborates the processes that impact on the developing professional identity of the CA Student. The findings of the research illuminate the processes by which CA Students become and belong, in particular marking the influence of the Training Firm and the Individual Values of the CA Student. The notions of becoming and belonging underpin the stories the CA Students tell of how they understand their developing professional identity. The practical implication of the results of this research for the future training of CAs is finally explored.

Objective The aim of the study is to assess the appropriate role of bilateral, whole-breast ultrasound as an adjunct to mammography, in the management of patients with positive imaging findings. Mammography has long been viewed as the gold standard for breast cancer detection, however there are well documented limitations in the effectiveness of mammography. Materials and Methods From January 1999 to December 2007 inclusive, 22,814 patients presented for breast imaging and of these, 1063 formed the study group as they required a breast tissue biopsies due to imaging results. The cancer detection rate was compared among those women with a baseline risk and those who had either an increased risk of breast cancer and / or had dense breast tissue,. All patients in the study group (1063) were imaged with mammography and bilateral whole breast ultrasound. The statistical measures of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated using 2x2 contingency tables and the Fisher’s Exact test. Results 55% of these patients had baseline risk factors while the remainder were documented as: BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene-positive (6), familial or personal risk factors (533), or dense breast tissue (307). Malignant lesions were detected in each patient group at the rate of 41.33%, 83.3%, 41.08% and 36.8% respectively. The percentage of high risk patients in this study (44.9%) was greater than similar research projects (Kolb, Lichy & Newhouse, (2002) 40.6%; Rosenberg et al. (2006) 21% & Berg et al. (2008) 21%) and this has contributed to the increased incidence of breast cancer. The biopsy rate was 5.25% (1198/22,814) with 501 malignant and 697 benign lesions documented giving a detection rate of 2.19% for the screened population. Mammographically detected malignant lesions had a mean size of 19.11mm (SD 12.30) while ultrasound-only detected lesions had a mean size of 10.5mm (SD 8.12). The prevalence of cancer in the screened population was 2.19% (501/ 22,814) or 22.05:1,000 patients. The prevalence of cancer in the high risk group was 410:1,000 patients and for women with dense breast tissue, the prevalence of breast cancer 368:1,000 patients. A 5.3% detection rate was ascribed to a cohort of ultrasound-only detected lesions giving an increase in the overall detection rate of 1.46:1,000 patients. 62.5% of these patients had significant risk factors. The detection rate of cancers with mammography, mammography + ultrasound, and bilateral breast ultrasound were all proven to be statistically significant (P =

This thesis aims to illuminate, through the lens of Murphy’s interpretation of Weber’s theory of social exclusion, contemporary challenges faced by the South African accounting profession pertaining to the shortage of professional accountants. In particular, increasing the throughput of students to the profession (Paper 1), member recruitment (Paper 2) and racial transformation of the profession (Paper 3) are considered. Paper 1 provides additional validity for the technique of biodata-based selection through the use thereof to differentiate between students in a dual medium university who will, or will not, complete their accounting education programmes in a society exhibiting tacit exclusionary closure. The models development suggested that education and language remains a tacit form of social exclusion of Blacks in the South African accounting profession. Paper 2 suggests that SAICA is the students’ preferred choice of professiona l accounting association, regardless of demographic group. The students appear to hold a collective view of the accounting profession. Consequently, in an environment characterized by the significant exclusionary closure achieved by a particular association, competing associations may need to look beyond marketing the attributes of the association to students and perhaps consider challenging the colonization of higher education by the dominant association. Competing associations, with their less onerous education requirements, should additionally consider promoting the alternate pathways to the profession they may offer to the Black students tacitly excluded from the dominant association, SAICA, on the basis of their inability to access to a quality education. An ideological challenge facing professional accounting associations in post-Apartheid South Africa, is racial transformation of the profession. Paper 3 explored the success or otherwise of the transformation projects implemented by SAICA through the lens of impression management and the use of voluntary disclosure. Given the disconnect between the slow pace of racial transformation achieved and the perceived ‘success’ of the profession transformation initiatives both in South Africa and abroad, it is suggested that the projects may have served more as a tool to manage the state’s impression of transformation, rather than achieving sufficient student outputs to redress the racial imbalances in the profession. Consequently, significant expansion and / or revision of these projects are encouraged.