Lack Of Skills Among Accounting Graduates: A Review Of The Current Debate

The Debate on Skills

Discuss about the Lack of Skills among Accounting.

Skills role and situation in the accounting graduate programmes of Australia have been examined by several researches with a focus on the importance of skills in education and whether students possess the necessary skills considered to be good enough to make them adequately competitive in employment situations as expected by employers for an accounting career (Jackling and De Lange, 2009; Lowden et al., 2011; Lim et al. 2016; Stoner and Milner, 2010). A gap in the skills possessed by graduating students has been identified pointing to graduates lacking generic skills including problem solving and communication skills, among others required by the employer for professional bookkeepers with reference to several research studies on both accounting professionals and accounting graduates.

Concomitantly, accounting studies have focussed on the importance of skills and the current situation by reviewing both accounting education and practice (Stanton and Stanton, 2002; Tan, Fowler and Hawkes, 2004; Tempone and Martin, 2003). A study by Tourna et al., (2016), considered the preparation process of students for a career in accounting profession in terms of both the skills and technical knowledge. The study reports that generally, students are underdeveloped in universities for skills considered to be essential for a successful career in accounting. This result has raised a debate concerning the quality of accounting education and the development of skills in graduate programmes. Recker (2006) considered reviews to additional professional appraisals of syllabi and strategies for training allowing the profession to continuously develop or reinvent itself. Resulting from these research studies, the accounting profession has suggested that skills be developed during the undergraduate degree programme with the aim of improving undergraduates’ generic prowess (Hassall et al, 2005).

Studies have not focused on the comments and opinions of scholastics that deliver accounting education, as they have done with the employers and graduates opinions. It is therefore necessary to initiate an agenda to enhance the study of skills in accounting academics. The agenda should be able to identify various approaches for managing the skills gap reported by other studies and debates. Enhancing the debate and research findings requires that the view points and opinions of academic providers are examined.   Therefore, this paper reviews findings of a research question that investigated the opinions of various studies on accounting education in Australia. Nonetheless, the interests of the accounting research and that of the profession have implicitly set a motion for debate on skills without the view point of the accounting academics which may be rather inadequate. Even though Kavanagh and Drennan (2008) investigated the agenda on skills in Australia, no other study seems to have focussed on the viewpoints and opinion of scholastics in Australia. Participants in the research study suggested approaches to the development of skills that they thought were important.  Evidently, the support and role of scholastics is unique on accounting education literatures.

Skills Perceived by Employers

This paper reviews the contemporary debate on accounting graduate skills, and gives a recommendation for setting an agenda on skills development. 

Accounting academics and the professionals have debated the importance and necessity of the accounting curriculum, reviewing mandates of academics and professionals in accounting education (Jackling and Keneley, 2009; Jackling and De Lange, 2009).  This study has covered much on the importance of skills in accounting education and the current skills situation. Various issue of concern surrounding accounting skills have been discussed, with varying discussions fuelling and shaping the current debate in skills.

The changes in financial reporting are seen as the driving force for the review of the Australian curriculum in accounting education (De Lange, Jackling and Gut, 2006; Zaid et al., 1994). As the profession looks expand, the gap between knowledge and technical abilities of graduate accountants have been noticed as being important; therefore, the accounting profession demands for skills development as well as technical know-how (Mohamed. and Lashine, 2003).

In analysis of the curriculum, skills needed by accounting graduates include: communication, interpersonal, and intellectual skills, as well as skills that are more specific like effective listening and reading, and capacity to identify and resolve issues that are unstructured in unfamiliar setting (Daff, De Lange and Jackling, 2012). Initially, teaching in universities was overwhelmed by accounting approaches and identification of best practice (de Lange and Watty, 2011; Lim et al. 2016). As the programmes in the universities increasingly concentrated on accounting strategies, graduates started lacking work place abilities that require the application of knowledge and hypotheses (Hancocket al., 2009).  Morgan (1997) is in support of the agenda, arguing that accounting education nowadays fails to equip graduates with comprehensive abilities to question, investigate or reason. 

Tempone and Martin (2003) place emphasis on the need for students developing their own creative abilities and critical analysis skills. Development of analytical skills is important as it allows students to effectively analyse data before and during the decision making process; this are critical in the applying hypotheses as the profession demands. Combining analytical skills with subject-specific topics institutes value addition in graduate education (Lim et al. 2016).   Academics in higher education are challenged by the changes in what is taught and teaching approach that ensures the development of skills that will add value to their professional careers (Kavanagh and Drennan, 2008).

In consideration of the accounting curriculum, research studies have examined skills perceived by the employers to be of necessity for a successful career in accounting (Jackling and De Lange, 2009). This details a gap with regard to employers’ expectations on the necessary skills and those considered by accounting graduates to be of necessity for a successful career.

Skills Possessed by Accounting Graduates

Tan et al. (2004) interviewed CIMA employers who reviewed a list of skills for an accountant who’s qualified, possessing the skill or level of skill shown by Australian graduates   and newly certified accountants.  Verbal communication skills were ranked as the most important. But when ranking the skills that graduates possess, verbal communication was twelfth out of a possible twenty two showing a skill gap in employers’ expectation and students’ skills profile.

Zaid et al. (1994) investigated the skills of communication possessed by accounting academics and accounting practitioners that are considered to be of importance. The different categories were ranked in order of importance. Zaid and her colleagues investigated the ability levels possessed by accounting graduates in the various categories.

Tan et al. (2004) also conducted a survey on employers concerning issues in curriculum and their views on particular skills of interest. Stress management and communication skills emerged as the most essential and of highly important in career growth. Furthermore, the employers asserted that institutions of higher learning should be more concerned with development of skills as part of the accounting curriculum.

Stoner and Milner (2010) and  Lowden et al., 2011 reported findings similar to those reported by Tempone and Martin (2003) who investigated the employer demands and the Australian accounting curriculum. Hassall et al. (2005) reported a quantitative skills gap that develops during undergraduate accounting studies, with reference to the quantitative skills that were expected by employers in the entry level careers. The research urged undergraduates to diversify their skills.

A second employer study surveyed students views and those of newly certified management accountants on curriculum and skills issues. Even though employers and students generally agreed on essential skills, they failed to agree on how they should appear in ranking. According to the company employers, communication skills was ranked the most important, while time management was ranked by the students as being the most important. More, employers indicated their rankings on skill levels shown by both the newly certified accountants and the students.  Nonetheless, Information Technology skills were ranked highest for both groups by the employers.

Jackling and De Lange (2009) investigated management accounting topics and the student skills that were considered to be necessary in the pursuit of success in the management accounting career by both students and practitioners.  However, some differences were noted regarding the essence of the topics between the practitioners and the students. Their opinions on the usefulness of the modern and conventional topics were found to influence the differences in opinion. The study reports that bot the management accountants and the academics considered problem solving, thinking, quantitative skills and effective listening to be of great importance and were in agreement that the accounting curriculum should consider emphasizing them more.

Academic Opinions on Approaching Skills Development

Stanton and Stanton (2002) investigated the significant stakeholders, past employers, wanting to know the best judge for the skills required by accounting graduates in their profession. Meta-skills, that is, to be highly flexible and adaptable and with a vivid imagination was crucial to stakeholders including problem solving and communication skills. Within contemporary literatures the debate seems to have an agreement on the important skills for a successful career in accounting. Moreover, accounting academia are faced by the challenge of providing a potential solution to the gap in skills. Investigating academic opinions on how to approach the challenge might influence the discussion further, towards finding a proper solution. 

On the basis of the outcomes of this extensive review of literatures, it is necessary to further the debate in order to satisfactorily resolve the gap discussed. The recommended agenda should have both attributes of the academia and their relative institution. The agenda for further study should establish the skills in the higher education context and their relation to the dissemination of knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach. Determining relevant literatures for the definitive meaning of skills shall go a long way to assist accounting academics relate more to the term. 

Conclusion

This study determines opinions of employers and accounting academics across Australia through a series of literature reviews focused on the issues considered to be of importance in the in the current debate on the skills of graduating accountants. In the end three interview questions are given. The objective of the study is to make contribution to the ongoing discussion through an agendum that will help make highlighted concerns more prominent and hopefully investigated and debated in totality.  Hancocket al. (2009) interviewed scholastics regarding their view on education, accounting, and environmental issues. Stanton and Stanton (2002) interviewed scholastics on their career stories and development. The study included the opinions of scholastics in examining skills.

 The study would use a series of three semi-structured interviews in is question is to engage academics in Australia regarding the debate on skills:

What motives underlay the provision of skills?

This question is formulated to determine whether the provision of skills is an issue for accounting academics as well as the motives underlying the provision that need to be established; including the approach to provision of skills and the attitudes of academics toward the provision. Exploring the motives is expected to provide the academic with an opportunity to make comments about their stand regarding the university, business school, or department decisions on the provision and why.  This interview question is expected to detail the opinions between employers and graduates regarding the necessary skills for professional accountants. Maybe there are differences in opinion as to why the skills should be provided in accounting g education. Tourna et al. (2016) would suggest the call for skills to be considered as part of training.

What skills are provided within the degree programme?

This should include institutions of higher learning across Australia and New Zealand and the variation in provision of accounting education.  Establishing whether provision of  the accounting education  is an issue by academics is important  to the study as it will interview academics from  both the new and older institutions providing accounting studies. It is expected that the student numbers will vary in diverse provisions. It is the intention of the recommended study to examine whether varying provisions might affect the responses. The interviews will be conducted without prejudice since information will not be gathered before the interview is conducted.

What is the current state of skills provided in accounting undergraduate programmes and are there more comments concerning the role and situation of skills in accounting education? 

The first questions give academics the chance to indicate what they consider to be important skills in studying accounting and to describe issues of importance in a broader perspective. Asking in normative way what the provisions ought to be allows the research to determine the position of academics in supporting management skills for decision making and policy development or whether the support or delivery skills was for personal gain. This question should illuminate and highlight the political aspect of skills as well as the impact of the schemes to enhance accounting education and exercises on review of research.

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