Accounting Students in an Australian University Improve their Writing: But How Did it Happen?

Dale-Jones, Gillian; Hancock, Phil; Willey, Keith

doi:10.1080/09639284.2013.847321

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…And the results are in agreement that written communication is critical particularly, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and language clarity (Riley & Simons, 2016), given the roles of accountants who write reports to explain how money was budgeted and expended. Dale-Jones et al (2013) concurred, quoting the International Accounting Education Standards Board, IES 3, which stated: "Professional accountants are expected to be able to present, discuss, report and defend views effectively through formal, informal, written and spoken communication" (IFAC, 2014, p. 5). Furthermore, the high level of communication and interaction between accounting practitioners, clients, accountants, and management is crucial to maintain the stability of the company (Cobo, 2013;Viviers, 2016b), which is necessary for its growth and success.…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pervasive skills and accounting graduates' employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?

Mhlongo

2020

Journal of Education

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In response to the pressures of globalisation and information technology, accounting practitioners are generally expected to demonstrate greater capacity in pervasive or generic skills. Universities offering accounting programmes in South Africa have revised accounting degree curricula to provide an added focus on pervasive skills. However, it remains unclear whether such interventions strengthen the position of accounting graduates in the job-seeking process, nor is it clear which of the many possible pervasive skills are relevant for employers. Through content analysis of online advertised accounting vacancies, this quantitative study sought to investigate whether employers do call for pervasive skills when recruiting accounting graduates and, if so, which of these skills are most sought after. The findings indicate that, indeed, employers generally specified pervasive skills, and that oral and written communication and critical thinking were the most sought-after of these skills for accounting-related employment in South Africa.

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Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pervasive skills and accounting graduates' employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?

Mhlongo

2020

Journal of Education

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“…Accounting educators have responded to these criticisms. Innovations have been introduced to improve writing skills (Dale-Jones et al, 2013;Phillips and Wolcott, 2014), develop critical thinking skills (Springer and Borthick, 2007;Sargent and Borthick, 2013) and promote deep learning approaches to accounting (Boyce et al, 2001;Lucas, 2001;Hall et al, 2004;Turner and Baskerville, 2013). Critical thinking and deep learning are linked (Paul, 2005;Phan, 2009).…”

Section: Informing Ideas For Course Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

A narrative on integrating research and theory into undergraduate accounting curriculum

Baker

Wick

2019

MEDAR

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Purpose This paper aims to describe an effort to integrate accounting research and theory into an undergraduate accounting education program through the development and delivery of a fourth-year course. Informing ideas for the course design and content are discussed, and feedback from the students and instructor is provided. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the form of a commentary and offers the authors’ opinion based on the experience of designing and teaching the course. An in-class survey was conducted in three separate offerings of the course. Findings Student response to the course and material was more positive than anticipated, indicating that undergraduate accounting students are receptive to learning about research and theory, even when it is not required for entrance into a professional certification program. Also, many students often went above and beyond the course requirements in the work they submitted. This indicates that there is an appetite for engaging with material that presents accounting as a social phenomenon rather than solely as a technical activity. Research limitations/implications While the data were collected over multiple years, the survey was conducted at a single university. These findings have implications for the design of undergraduate accounting education programs and, potentially, for addressing the gap between accounting research and practice. Originality/value This review contributes to the discourse on integrating research into undergraduate accounting education as recommended by the AAA Pathways Commission. It describes one method of doing so and identifies the literature that informed the approach taken. This paper also contributes to the accounting education literature by providing evidence of student reaction to a course that uses research and theory as a subject matter rather than a pedagogical tool. This evidence may also inform the teaching –research nexus discourse.

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“…In a mission critical field such as accounting and finance, candidate choice can make a huge difference to a firm, where both the applied and the interpersonal skills of an accountant and/or finance manager will play an important part in its operational performance and strategic direction (Dale-Jones et al, 2013;Jackling and De Lange, 2009;Stanley and Marsden, 2012). Universities worldwide are now increasingly conscious of these trends and have been responding with appropriate initiatives within the operational framework of degree programmes to develop the necessary and in-demand interpersonal and applied skills that will make their graduates employable in their chosen field of study (Siriwardane et al, 2015;Wilkin, 2014;Yap et al, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Addressing graduate skills in accounting and finance education: The gaps Several previous studies have investigated the challenges faced by accounting professionals and have highlighted a variety of graduate attributes and skills sought by employers, particularly emphasizing the importance of soft skills (Dale- Jones et al, 2013;Jackling and De Lange, 2009;Siriwardane et al, 2015;Stanley and Marsden, 2012;Wilkin, 2014;Yap et al, 2014). Siriwardane et al (2015) reported that entry-level accountants lacked appropriate levels of written and oral communication skills and attributes that are critical to communicating effectively in the accounting field.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dale -Jones et al (2013) also studied the use of collaborative peer assessment and self-assessment learning and teaching initiatives to improve accounting students' communication skills: a significant improvement was identified in the students' ability to apply assessment standards to the grammatical, structural and presentation components of written communication. Wilkin (2014) suggests that accounting education should ensure that students acquire core professional skills such as communication, analytical ability and critical thinking skills that are important for career success in the field.…”

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Examining graduate skills in accounting and finance

Osmani¹,

Hindi²,

Al‐Esmail

et al. 2017

Industry and Higher Education

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While many universities have implemented various initiatives and teaching and learning methods to embed the most in-demand skills into their degree programmes, there is little evidence in the literature of students’ opinions and awareness of these skills. The purpose of this article is to assess, through an empirical study, students’ perceptions of the skills commonly identified in the literature as important for the field of accounting and finance. A total of 462 surveys were collected and analysed using the SAS statistical analysis tool. According to the findings, the most important graduate skills are communication skills, followed by analytical skills and self-management. The findings also reveal that the language of instruction is statistically significant for a few graduate skills, including interpersonal, planning and organization, communication, self-management and analytical skills. Age is statistically significant for critical thinking skills and gender is statistically significant for leadership, technological and communication skills.

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Accounting Students in an Australian University Improve their Writing: But How Did it Happen?

Cited by 26 publications

References 28 publications

Pervasive skills and accounting graduates' employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?

Pervasive skills and accounting graduates' employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?

A narrative on integrating research and theory into undergraduate accounting curriculum

Examining graduate skills in accounting and finance

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