Prof. Elaine Doyle
Friday, 8 November 2024

Professor Elaine Doyle has been teaching and researching in TAX within the Department of Accounting and Finance at the Kemmy Business School for over 20 years. 


After my primary degree, I completed a Masters in Accounting (funded by PwC) before working with PwC for 5 years while undertaking qualifications to become a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Advisor, later working with Ernst and Young (EY). After 6 years of professional experience, I began my academic career. This indirect route has served me in terms of honing professional skills, possessing a strong professional network and having a thorough understanding of the accounting profession, placing me well in terms of my influence and impact on the profession. I remain a member of both Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute.
 

 

My research journey has been significantly influenced by my professional experience. I am fascinated by what motivates accountants’ actions and influences behaviour. It was only after leaving professional practice that I could see clearly how the socialisation process within accounting practice moulds professionals’ behaviour. This led to my PhD research which focused on how tax practitioners approach ethical dilemmas. Ensuring future tax practitioners use strong ethical reasoning resulted in my work on integrating ethics into the curriculum which led to a stream of research on pedagogical innovations. My interest in employee voice in accounting is a natural progression from my ethics work as I see strong employee voice as an antidote to illegal, unethical and inappropriate behaviour. Socialisation within firms resulting in employee silence needs to be understood and action taken to strengthen voice for the betterment of a profession with a mandate to serve the public good.

I feel very strongly that as academics it is our job to try to impact positively within our areas of expertise and to contribute constructively to the debates on current business challenges. To this end I write articles for accounting practitioner journals and news outlets when I can. I maintain strong links with the profession serving on education committees and discussion panels when invited.

I really love what I do and hope it contributes positively to my field.