Professor Muhammad Azizul Islam (Aziz) was conferred to the Fellowship of the Academy in Spring 2025. He is Professor in Sustainability Accounting & Transparency, Chair in Accountancy, and the Director of Research for Accounting at the University of Aberdeen Business School, at the University of Aberdeen. He is a Chartered Accountant (CAANZ).
Professor Muhammad Azizul IslamFAcSS
Aziz has widespread experience in various leadership roles in academia and is widely recognised internationally as a leading sustainability accounting researcher. He investigates some of the specific sustainability accounting and transparency issues, including (but not limited to) corporate human rights measures, modern slavery disclosures, climate change accounting, social audit and corporate anti-bribery measures. His journey, rooted in his experiences growing up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he witnessed the harsh realities faced by garment workers in his neighbourhood, profoundly informs his research, and he works collaboratively with many international institutions and researchers based in the UK, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, and the USA.
His research has been funded by various organisations, including ACCA (UK), CPA (Australia), CAANZ, CSIRO/Data61, UK AHRC, and GCRF-Scottish Funding Council. Notably, he has received two prestigious grants for studies on corporate accountability in relation to modern slavery in global fashion chains, which support social movements advocating for policy changes in the UK, such as Fashion Watchdog.
Aziz has received several awards for his research, including two Vice-Chancellor Excellence awards for his research project (2022) and research impact (2023), respectively. He was also a finalist for the Green Gown Award in association with UKRI for two consecutive years (2022, 2023), and he was a finalist for the Project of The Year category at the Times Higher Education Awards in 2023. Notably, he was honoured to receive the Scottish Fair Trade Award in 2022.
His research appears in internationally recognised high impact journals, attracting widespread media attention and influencing country-level policy changes. His research-based opinions appear in the BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Times, Sunday Post, Conversation, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Prothom Alo, IFAC-Gateway, Accountingweb, and ICAEW feature articles, among many others.
Why do the social sciences matter?
For me, the social sciences matter because they offer the tools and perspectives necessary to address systemic issues like modern slavery, exploitation, and inequality and promote social accountability and ethical practices in society, particularly in business.
The social sciences help us understand the complexities surrounding businesses’ impacts on the society in which they operate. Such understanding often stimulates me to generate new and impactful research ideas on the underlying roles of accounting (measurements), accountability and transparency surrounding businesses’ impacts on people and the planet. They help me challenge conventional assumptions and stimulate alternative and critical thoughts on issues such as human rights, morality, and social responsibility, which are often overlooked in traditional businesses in pursuit of profitability. Integrating human rights and ethical considerations into accounting and business decisions is crucial for creating a more just and equitable society.
What inspires you about your work?
I grew up in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in the 1980s and 1990s. My neighbourhood was surrounded by garment factories supplying overseas fashion retailers, and I often saw hundreds of garment workers entering and leaving the factories every day. When I began studying accounting in the 1990s, I found that what I was learning didn’t really relate to what I witnessed firsthand in my neighbourhood. I realized that my education in profit maximisation contradicted my daily exposure to workers’ livelihoods, leading me to realise that accounting avoids engaging with underprivileged workers, despite their importance in financial gains for the company. At the same time, this made me, as an inquisitive student, feel that accounting could have an enormous constructive role in the social space/sphere. This first realisation over time inspired me to pursue more social science degrees overseas, including my PhD in accounting and corporate social responsibility (CSR), and ultimately led me to choose a research career in sustainability accounting, an emerging field expanding the horizon of traditional accounting.
Accounting as a social science subject has an enormous capacity for change for a better world. As a sustainability accounting, accountability and transparency researcher, I see the promise of my research to challenge and change the mainstream (profit-driven) ideology on corporate responsibility for people and the planet. In particular, I am always motivated to investigate and problematise corporate accountability and transparency in tackling modern slavery. This pursuit aligns with my aspiration to develop a responsible profit mechanism for businesses and accounting bodies involving shifting mainstream perspectives on the role of accounting and profit maximisation. I firmly believe that modern slavery should never be tolerated for corporate gain, and all financial transactions must be free from any link to modern slavery.
What is the most urgent issue social scientists need to tackle today and within the next three years?
There is an urgent need to hold corporations accountable for their roles in safeguarding both people and the planet. It is essential that these organisations ensure they do not violate human rights, contribute to war and conflict, or exploit workers through unethical labour practices. Social scientists have a vital role in fostering global awareness and advocating for the divestment from companies involved in such detrimental activities, including those implicated in human rights violations, modern slavery, and excessive carbon emissions. By engaging with these pressing issues, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable future. These issues, along with the capacity of social scientists to question the established body of knowledge, create their own set of challenges but are essential for fostering impactful research.
What does being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences mean to you?
Being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences holds significant meaning for a researcher like me who is deeply committed to addressing social issues such as modern slavery, exploitation and inequality through my research and teaching. This is very much a testament to my significant contributions to the social sciences.
Being a Fellow provides me with a platform to further collaborate with other leading social scientists, share my research findings, influence policymakers, and advocate for systemic changes that prioritise human rights and the social responsibility of businesses.