What skills and attributes does
an accounting graduate need? Evidence from student perceptions and employer
expectations
TITLE
What
skills and
attributes does an accounting graduate need? Evidence from student perceptions
and employer expectations
FORMULATION OF THE
PROBLEM
1.
have been developed as part of their degree
programmes?
2.
What professional
skills do employers expect accounting graduates to possess at entry level?
3.
What professional skills do graduating accounting
students perceive as having the highest priority for career success?
4.
To what extent do graduating accounting students
perceive that these professional skills
5.
What is the difference between student perceptions
and employer expectations in terms of the professional skills that are
important for a career in accounting?
PURPOSES
OF THE RESEARCH
The present study examines perceptions of graduating students
about the skills and attributes they consider important to their career, and
the emphasis placed on the development of these skills during their degree
programme. The present study also examines the skills and attributes expected
by a diverse group of employers and explores gaps between student perceptions
and employer expectations.
RESEARCH METHOD
1. Sample
We conducted a study
involving data collection from 322 graduating students in three universities in
Australia 1 and 28 practitioners across a number of organizations and
industries who employ accounting graduates.
In Institution 1, 172
students were undertaking either a Bachelor of Commerce or a dual degree with
Bachelor of Commerce. Of the 160 students who nomin- ated their major, 56 per
cent were studying an accounting major, with finance (37 per cent) and
international business (7 per cent) being the most popular second major. In
Institution 2, all students were studying an accounting major as part of a
Bachelor of Commerce or Master in Accounting with finance the most popular
second major. The students in Institution 3 numbered 120 and were studying
either a Bachelor of Business or a dual degree with business and 68 per cent
were studying an accounting major. In terms of preferred employment after
graduation, accounting, finance, audit, law and taxation were the preferred
areas.
2. Data collection
Both
quantitati ve and qualitative
(Minichiello et al. , 1995) data collection methods were used.
2.1. Quantitative measures
The quantitative study involved the same survey
being administered to the student cohorts during lectures. The Albrecht and
Sack (2000) survey instrument was adopted because it had been validated
previously in a large US study. Minor refinements were made for the Australian
context and to include areas highlighted by students in pilot focus groups. The
survey consisted of three sections:
Section
1 asked students to rate on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5
(strongly disagree) statements about the importance of studying various
programmes in accounting and business. Section 2 required students to rate 47
specific skills/attributes on a scale ranging from 1 (no priority) to 5 (top
priority) in relation to: (i) importance to their future careers, and (ii) the
level of priority they perceived had been given to developing these skills
during their degree programme.
1 The universities were
public and private institutions and differed in terms of size, approach and
focus. They were selected to allow a more representative cross section of
student participants to avoid bias and support generalizable findings.
2.2. Qualitative
measures
A qualitative study to assess the expectations
of employers and to focus on processes occurring in practice as explained by
those directly involved (Miles and Hubermann, 1994) was conducted. During focus
groups and individual meetings, a semistructured interview approach was adopted
allowing all particip- ants to respond to the same set of questions
(Carruthers, 1990). Interviews and focus groups were taped and transcribed to
generate facts opinions, and insights (Yin, 1984). Two independent raters (M
and N) assessed the transcripts and identified and ranked on a scale of 1 (no discussion)
to 5 (much discussion) the attributes and skills that employers considered
important. The rankings were then summed to produce a score for every attribute
resulting in two sets of combined ‘importance’ scores (Tashakkori and Teddlie,
1998). Discussions between the raters and the investigators resolved any
differences that became apparent. The reviews were designed to acknowledge that
although ‘generalizations across individuals are of value, it is important that
the individual’s unique experience is not lost’ (Ashworth and Lucas, 2000, p.
304).
CONCLUSION
Students are a key
stakeholder group when it comes to examining views about developing skills and
attributes to equip them for a career in the accounting profession. The
findings of the present study reveal that students rated continuous learning as
the most important skill to future careers and, in terms of the Jones and Sin
(2003) model, were focused on developing routine technical expertise, oral and
written communication skills, analytical and problem-solving skills and
appreciative skills including decision-making and critical thinking. Indicative
of their stage of life, students focused on ongoing development of personal
skills such as professional attitude, self-motivation, leadership and the
ability to work in a team. However, what is of concern is the emphasis
currently being placed during accounting programmes on skills that students
regard as important. It would appear that the only skills being delivered in
accordance with the expectations of students in this study are routine
accounting and research skills. Because student motivation to learn and acquire
skills is often driven by perceptions about the relevance of these skills to
their careers, the findings of the paper have important implications for
accounting educators.
With regard to employers, they are expecting graduates
entering the profession to have as the top three skills analytical/problem
solving skills, a level of business
