Personal and social skills are two types of dimensions of life skills that are often overlooked in the school curriculum. For MTs students, both are key skills to facilitate the formation of rational and balanced behavior between inside and outside the classroom. The results showed: (1) personal values and social skills of MTs students in rural areas better than urban MTs; (2) significant differences in personal characteristics and social skills between MTs students in rural and urban school locations; (3) the personal skills dimension becomes a priority in the development of school curricula and programs. Implications of differences in personal characteristics and social skills of MTs students on the content and strategy of curriculum development and strategy of translation of school programs that gayut with the daily life of the students.

There is increasing evidence that females are outperforming males in secondary education across a range of subjects. The data in higher education, however, is not so clear-cut. Several studies have been undertaken examining the impact of gender on undergraduate accounting performance, ranging from early year performance to that of later years, with conflicting results. Some of the literature suggests that gender differences are dependent on the type of assessment utilized, reporting that females tend to perform better than males in coursework assessments with the position being reversed for examinations. This paper examines gender differences across several performance measures both prior to and post entry into an Accounting and Finance degree. Data was collected from the population of honours graduates of 1998, 1999 and 2000 (n = 132) on a thick sandwich Accounting and Finance degree at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. All the data was extracted from student files to develop a multitude of independent performance related variables, categorized into: point of university entry data, early university performance data and final honours year performance data (examined on an individual module basis and also a global coursework and examination performance basis). Statistical differences were examined using a two independent sample technique, whereby the population was categorized by gender into male and female, with either a t-test or Mann-Whitney test being utilized dependent on the distribution of the independent variable. Only two gender differences were found: females outperformed their male counterparts in the first year accounting module and also in the auditing module, which was undertaken via distance learning during the third year of the programme. No gender differences were found in any of the final year modules, and this was also evident in the coursework and examination performance analysis. Single sex focus groups were set up to explore why gender differences were apparent in the auditing module.gender differences, undergraduate performance,

This paper examines three possible reasons (stereotypical discrimination, structural obstacles and employee's preferences) for the lack of women partners in professional accountancy firms in Australia, UK and New Zealand. Data are collected from an experimental survey and interviews of current partners. Whilst women's perceived preferences and organisational structural barriers contributed strongly to the lack of women partners in all sizes of firms, traditional stereotypical discrimination against women at the partnership decision point was only displayed in metropolitan large non‐Big 4 firms, and it is suggested that this is related to intense competitive pressure and a constrained partnership resource.

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Non-technical skills are essential for today's professional accountant who operates in a dynamic socio-technical environment. Accounting degrees have continued to be criticised for failing to develop these skills to the required level. In the Scottish location of this study, employers have responded by seeking out graduates from non-accounting degrees who they perceive have better developed these skills.The research aims to further the debate on non-technical skill development of accounting graduates, interpreted through a lens of institutional theory. Data was collected via a questionnaire to Big 4 ICAS trainees and subsequent interviews with Scottish academics.Pressure, driven normatively by accreditation, for high-levels of technical content was found to result in accountancy degree providers requiring to make prioritisation decisions regarding the development of non-technical skills. Accountancy degree providers appeared to prioritise interpersonal and communication skills at the detriment of intellectual skills. Un-actioned, this could threaten the institutional legitimacy of accountancy degrees.

There is a growing awareness among educators that it is important to provide a skills-based education as well as one based on academic achievements. This was articulated in the UK by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, 2000), in its Subject Benchmarking Statement for Accounting (Gloucester: QAAHE). Within the heading 'cognitive abilities and non-subject specific skills', there is a requirement for students to demonstrate abilities and skills in group working (p. 2). In order to capture these key capabilities, curriculum development must focus on utilising appropriate pedagogic techniques, which enhance learning and develop appropriate interpersonal skills. However, universities need to assess these desirable skills otherwise; a 'backwash effect' will stifle innovation. Whilst group assessment has the potential to increase assessment validity, by bringing into the assessment framework skills and competencies, which are more closely related to real-life situations than traditional examinations and essays, appropriate moderation such as peer assessment needs to take place to achieve fairness and objectivity; otherwise the assessment exercise may marginalize reliability. This paper evaluates the introduction of a group assessment project into the final year of an Accounting and Finance degree. Performance data was collected for each student, which facilitated a comparative analysis on both examination and coursework results. Data was also collected from the students by way of questionnaires and a standard module evaluation form. This data provided information on how the groups and the peer assessment operated, together with the students' perceptions of the fairness of the exercise. The paper concludes with recommendations for practice.Group working, peer assessment, group assessment,

An understanding of the factors that determine a student's final degree classification before the commencement of an honours year is important to many parties. This paper develops a statistical model using logistic regression to predict whether a student will achieve at least an upper second class honours degree in his/her final year. Data were collected from the population of honours graduates of 1998 and 1999 (n = 79) on a thick sandwich Accounting and Finance degree at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. Information was extracted from student files to form 35 exploratory variables. Statistical analysis was undertaken to identify those variables which appeared to differentiate between students who achieved at least an upper second class degree and those who did not. The statistically significant variables were then entered into a logistic regression model using a forward stepwise approach. The resulting model contained three variables, performance in Financial Accounting in year 2, performance in Managerial Accounting in year 2, and the number of resits in year 1. The diagnostic statistics and classification accuracy suggest a robust model, which suffers little shrinkage when applied to the holdout sample of 43 students who graduated in 2000. The paper concludes with recommendations for counselling students regarding the appropriateness of undertaking an honours degree.undergraduate performance, honours classifications,

Increasing numbers of women are entering Chartered Accountancy. Focuses on the Scottish perspective exploring recruitment, examination performance and career progress. No discernable gender differences were found in recruitment and early career structure, although women do perform better in the examination process. However, at senior manager and particularly partner levels differences do arise. Examines by way of a case-study approach, interviewing all the women partners in the "big six" Scottish offices, why so few reach the top. Also analyses their personal profiles in an attempt to construct role models for women who aspire to this level. Women choose to opt out of the top, prioritizing and balancing their lifestyles in a different manner to men. The barrier is therefore one of choice, although some form of discrimination was mentioned by two-thirds of the women. The observations within the six firms were also different, suggesting that varying attitudes had been experienced.