Barriers to Accounting: Australian Indigenous Students' Experience

Abstract

Australian Indigenous people are under-represented in accounting studies and in the accounting profession. As part of an investigation of the cause of this situation such that it can be overcome, this project addresses the relevant study choices of high-school students in Darwin. Through semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, it is found that diverse cultural issues have significant impact on Indigenous students' study options and study success, that there are important differences between urban Indigenous students and remote Indigenous students, and that addressing merely attendance, literacy and numeracy issues is unlikely to make an impact on students' study choices as they relate to accounting.

Fostering Indigenous Students’ Participation in Business Education

“…These include the under-representation of students in year 12 studies and the role of teachers in guiding and advising students toward careers and opportunities as a result of education in business studies (Lombardi & Clayton, 2006;Rkein & Norris, 2012). Business subjects may also be shunned because they are predominantly numeracy-based and support from teachers may be lacking if they believe their students do not have the necessary math level required in courses such as accountancy and finance.…”

“…Indigenous knowledge and the teaching of cultural studies have been found to be excluded or marginalised in the curriculum (Barney, 2013;Rahman, 2013) by Western knowledge systems. Likewise sociocultural values clash in terms of teaching styles, pedagogies and course content (Pechenkina et al, 2011;Rkein & Norris, 2012). This clash can present as an insurmountable barrier when Indigenous students have to "acquire [Western] school cultural knowledge and succeed in education, at the expense of their cultural identity, practices and world views" (Rahman, 2013, p. 664).…”

“…The engagement and participation rates of Indigenous people all levels of education, high school and higher education have been found to be comparatively low when compared to the wider population, (see e.g., ABS, 2012;Asmar et al, 2011;Biddle, 2010;Schwab, 2006) and across all sectors of higher education (Andersen, Bunda, & Walter, 2008) including business education (see Behrendt et al, 2012;Rkein & Norris, 2012). Recent figures indicate that Indigenous represent just under 1% of all domestic students undertaking study in higher education and can be compared to the population representing around 2.5% of the all Australians (Dept.…”

“…These demographic, economic, geographic, and cultural factors together with social capital have been found to impact 'students' perceptions, choices and decisions about participation in higher education' (Wilks & Wilson, 2012, p. 79). Financial hardship (Bradley, et al, 2008;Pechenkina & Anderson, 2011), the fact of being first in their family to attend university (Barney, 2013;Behrendt et al, 2012), a lack of university readiness (Hossain et al, 2008;McKay & Devlin, 2014) and disadvantages from living in remote areas (Rkein & Norris, 2012) also appear to be major barriers to participation and completion of higher education for Indigenous students. These factors are interrelated in their impact on participation in higher education.…”

“…Nevertheless, little research has been undertaken on the topic of improving the uptake of higher education in business courses in particular (see Behrendt et al, 2012 andRkein &Norris 2012 for exceptions). Among various measures, fostering Indigenous students' participation in business education is 'crucial for [indirectly] fostering [economic] independence' (Foley, 2013, p. 25) and required if more Indigenous businesses are to be created.…”