The Failure and Future of Accounting Education

For decades, accounting practitioners, academicians, and professional bodies have argued that the quality of #accounting #education is failing. But why?

1. Course content and curricula- too narrow and often outdated or irrelevant. Limited exposure to the highly relevant concept of #globalization, #technology, and #ethics.
2. Pedagogy- rule-based, memorization, test-for-content, and preparation for certification exam model is inefficient. Does not prepare students for the ambiguous world they will encounter after graduation.
3. Skill development- focus too much on content at the expense of skill development.
4. Technology- #accounting is still taught as if the #information is expensive. Information is inexpensive, and that part of the curriculum devoted to information gathering and recording is wasteful and sends the wrong message to students.
5. Faculty development and reward systems- often isolated from business school peers and more important, from business professionals. Out of touch with market-based and competitive expectations.
6. Strategic direction- Because #accounting has not continued to show leadership and provide direction, competition has increased and resulted in fewer resources for accounting programs.

THE EFFECT-

1. Knowledge acquired by students in the #accounting program has become less valuable.
2. Best students self-select away from accounting degree programs.

ALARM BELLS-

> #cpa firms hired 11% fewer accounting grads in 2018 than in 2015, and 30% fewer than in 2014.

> According to the 2019 AICPA Trend Report, enrollment in accounting programs is declining-

• Masters Degree - 6% decline from 15/16 vs 17/18. More students opting to enter the workforce with only an undergrad degree
• Undergraduate Degree - a decline of 4% from 15/16 vs 17/18. The major contributing factor is the emergence of in-demand majors, such as data analytics, STEM, and digital technologies.
• College-age demographics - changing demographics have led to a lower number of college applicants, which is affecting college enrollments nationally (US data).

Findings from accounting education research papers suggest -

• Relative to freshmen interested in non-accounting business majors, the quality of freshmen interested in accounting has significantly declined over the sample period (1971-1999)
• Market has provided a negative evaluation of the practical solution.
• Teachers should often mix theory with practice (the why and the how) and often indicate the contact of the course with a non-accounting course.
• Gap between theory and practice.
• Accounting teachers often struggle to teach new content as learners lacked adequate background knowledge needed to learn to account in succeeding grades.

Poor quality of education doesn't necessarily preclude graduates to seek careers in accounting until they are faced with stark reality. A recent survey by CV library -

• 50% of accountancy professionals are unhappy in their current roles.
• Of those who said they were unhappy, 42% said it was because of a lack of opportunities for development.
• While 96% of unhappy accountants were looking for a new job

CONSEQUENCES-

Unhappiness in your role can manifest itself in fatigue, boredom, anger, and sadness. It can even lead to depression.

• Being a Chartered Accountant (CA), I have not witnessed any major reforms in teaching and learning accountancy.
• Being a CA faculty lecturer, I noticed the level of frustration and fatigue ness when it comes to teaching and learning accountancy using pen and paper.
• Living my life beyond CA, often haunts me to re-look at the pedagogy.

TIME FOR CHANGE

I have questions about the future of accounting education and so do my peers -

Anup S. , Sailesh Kattel , Kailash Joshi , Arun Babu Ghimire , Krishna Bhattarai

We have joined hands to form a "community startup" which narrowly focuses on perspectives associated with the poor quality of accounting education and how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help revive the declining trend in the long run.

If you are an accounting professional/student/mentor/teacher and are looking for a change, then you may connect with me. I shall be more than happy to revert.

[email protected]

9801986022

Stay tuned for more****************************************

References -

MAQrussell.qxd (imanet.org)

The Future of Accounting Education - The CPA Journal

Evaluation of practical accounting education in Jordan | Emerald Insight

(PDF) Has the Quality of Accounting Education Declined? (researchgate.net)

The Purpose of Accounting Education ☆ | Emerald Insight

Has the Quality of Accounting Education Declined? by Paul E. Madsen :: S

SRN

The Effect of Learning Styles of Accounting Education Students on their Performance: A Field Study (sciencedirectassets.com)

why accountants hate their jobs 2022 (quanticofinancial.com)

The quality of accounting education and the integration of the international education standards: evidence from Middle Eastern and North African countries: Accounting Education: Vol 31, No 2 (tandfonline.com)

(PDF) Teachers’ experiences of teaching Accounting in the context of curriculum changes in South Africa (researchgate.net)