Stewart Smyth joined Cork University Business School in July 2023. Stewart's research interests cover the policy and financing of public services, focusing on public/social housing and the use of PPPs to deliver public infrastructure; the use of accounting information by trade unions and social movements; and related conceptions of public accountability.
Stewart has been teaching accounting and related subjects since the late 1990s, with a particular emphasis on financial reporting and auditing, in both the private and public sectors. In recent years, he has developed and delivered Research Methods and Philosophical Perspectives to Accounting and Financial Management students.
The nature of Stewart's research leads him to pursue a range of public and policy engagements, including speaking at housing policy conferences and writing for different media outlets on accounting and finance issues.
Recently, we spoke to Stewart about his career so far and his time at CUBS.
How did you get in to a career in accounting?
I left school and went straight into the profession, working during the day and studying in the evenings. I studied for the ACCA qualification completing the finals in 1996.
Where did you do your PhD and what did you study?
I was working at Manchester Metropolitan University and had recently finished a MSc in Public Sector Management (from Nottingham Trent University), when the studying bug bite again and I thought lets see how far I can go. So I did a Masters in Research and then a PhD at MMU. Following on from my MSc I was interested in public sector issues and wanted a broader focus than just accounting practice. So my thesis is on changing public accountability relations in social housing.
What inspired you to be a lecturer?
I was always interested in teaching; if I hadn't gone into the accountancy profession I think I would have become a teacher. When I left practice and got my first job in a university I thought I was going to just be a teacher. Research only came later.
How long you have been working in CUBS?
Just under a year - I started in July 2023. But I've been an academic now since the late 1990s, so over a quarter of a century.
Highlight of your time so far at CUBS
Its been a bit of a whirlwind of year but I really enjoyed hearing all the doctoral students presentations at the PGR Symposium last month.
Hope for the future/ excited for the new role?
A major part of my reason for coming to CUBS is the potential to developed a strong research culture in the department. Helping to recruit doctoral students, and collaborate with early career researchers, in the Department and the School, on research projects - that's very exciting.
Small bit about yourself away from work ?
"I'm a Dub, I know there's some rivalry there with the "real capital" and all that! I've spent my life going back and forth between Ireland and England. Not just as an adult but we lived in Birmingham for five years when I was a young child. Apparently I sounded like one of the Peaky Blinders before we moved back to Dublin."
Stewarts Inaugural lecture takes place in the Orb 2.55 at 3.30 PM on Wednesday May 8th. You can register for the lecture here