Irene Tempone

Desirable generic attributes for accounting graduates into the twenty‐first century: The views of employers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the requirements of accounting graduates in relation to generic attributes. Employers have consistently maintained that graduates are deficient in this area. This Australia-wide, all-sector study addresses the issue by examining what employers mean when they make demands for universities and academics to deliver work-ready graduates. Design/methodology/approach - Interviews (recorded, transcribed and analysed with NVivo) with employers, and accounting professional bodies were conducted to ascertain their views of their needs of accounting graduates into the future. Findings - Employers held the generic attributes of communication, team work and self-management to be the most critical for graduates in the three areas of recruitment, training and ongoing employment. Demands on universities to deliver work-ready graduates are not homogeneous. Employers in different sectors construe the meaning of generic attributes in line with their specific needs. Originality/value - The study was an original piece of work that gauged the opinions of professional accounting bodies and employers of accounting graduates across Australia and in all sectors of the accounting profession. The value of the study is to inform academics as to the ranked importance of generic attributes but also alert them to the different meanings that are assigned to these skills by employers in different sectors.

Iteration between theory and practice as a pathway to developing generic skills in accounting

This paper explores the development of generic skills in accounting and the role iteration between theory and practice plays in that development. Three cohorts of students at a small School of Business in Australia undertaking the study of financial statement analysis were interviewed about the process of completing an assignment on that topic. Phenomenographic interviews and analysis of transcripts were undertaken with an outcome space generated which plotted variation in approach to iteration between theory and practice, ranging from, at the simplest level a limited data/course focus approach to, at the most complex level, a company future/company identity focus approach. Variation between the cohorts of post-graduate local and overseas students and undergraduate students was also found. Generic skills of problem-solving, analysis and communication were matched against these approaches using the Bowden and Masters relational model of observable practice and underlying capacity.

Accounting students' approaches to group-work

Employers and universities emphasize the need for students to be able to work in groups and be good team members, yet there is often limited understanding of what this involves and how it might be developed. This paper examines how students studying an accounting for management subject made sense of working in a group. Six different approaches to group-work are found. They range from a view that group-work gets in the way of learning to a view that the group provides a collaborative mechanism which ensures knowledge grows and develops through interactive debate and stimulation. The paper considers the implications for teaching accounting through groupwork.