Lorna Stevenson

Peer-mentoring undergraduate accounting students: The influence on approaches to learning and academic performance

This article considers the impact of a student peer-mentoring programme (the Mentor Accountant Project, MAP) on first-year undergraduates’ academic performance. The development of MAP was informed by reference to extant literature; it relies on the voluntary services of third-year students who then act as mentors to first-year student mentees in an undergraduate degree programme. The impact of MAP in two Scottish universities is measured by reference to the changes in the approaches to learning and the academic achievement of two groups of students: those who participated in MAP and those who did not. The findings indicate that those first-year students who participated in MAP did not experience the significant decline in their deep and strategic approaches to learning that their non-MAP peers did. Likewise, those first-year students who participated in MAP demonstrated a stronger academic performance in comparison to their non-MAP equivalents. In addition, the MAP scheme appeared to have little impact on the approaches to learning of the third-year participants; and the academic performance of the third-year MAP participants was indistinguishable from that of their non-MAP counterparts. The evidence suggests that participation in MAP is beneficial for first-year students.

Accounting textbooks: Exploring the production of a cultural and political artifact

Abstract This paper explores the production of introductory financial accounting textbooks in the UK. Despite being a pervasive pedagogical device (see Brown and Guilding, 1993, Accounting Education: an international journal, 4(2) pp. 211–218), there has been little research carried out which examines the role or contents of textbooks in accounting education. This is a surprising gap in the literature when one considers the numerous concerns that have been expressed regarding the content of accounting education, the values which it projects and the type of student which it produces. Drawing on contemporary research into textbooks, this paper considers accounting textbooks to be ‘cultural artifacts’ which may reflect the cultural, ideological, and political interests of particular groups in society. In this regard, introductory financial textbooks have the potential to reinforce cultural homogeneity through the advancement of shared attitudes. This study is based upon 12 semi-structured interviews with both textbook authors and commissioning editors. Results indicate that the contents of textbooks are the product of complex social and cultural relations. Whilst conflicts and negotiations may characterize the production process, the knowledge that is considered most ‘legitimate’ tends to be mandated, either directly or indirectly, by professional accounting bodies through course accreditation requirements. Furthermore, this knowledge reflects wider cultural issues and assumptions regarding the structure of society and of how it should be organized.

Exploring lecturers’ perceptions of the emphasis given to different stakeholders in introductory accounting textbooks

Abstract This exploratory research considers the views of 12 introductory accounting lecturers in Scotland regarding their perceptions of how different corporate stakeholders are represented in their recommended introductory accounting texts. The study builds on previous research which suggests that accounting education is embedded in neo-classical economic ideology and instils the notion of shareholder primacy in students. Findings suggest that a majority of the accounting educators interviewed believe pre-eminence is unduly accorded to shareholders in accounting textbooks. Consequently, all but one of the interviewees held the view that students should be presented with ‘alternative perspectives’ which emphasise the user needs of other stakeholder groups, either by introducing such perspectives in lectures and tutorials or by recommending supplementary reading material. By highlighting the disparity between the issues lecturers want to teach and the values implicit in accounting textbooks this paper draws attention to the potentially limiting role which textbooks can play in the education process.

Social and environmental accounting teaching in UK and Irish Universities: a research note on changes between 1993 and 1998

This research note reports on a questionnaire–based survey of the teaching of social and environmental accounting (SEA) in undergraduate accounting degrees throughout the British Isles in 1998. The study is a replication and extension of Owen et al. s (1994) survey in 1993 and analyses the significant changes from that study. The results suggest that environmental accounting is still the most prevalent SEA topic taught; and educators teach SEA because of the political prominence of SEA issues. Any absence of SEA teaching appears to be due to lack of time and space in crowded curricula. SEA appears not to be taught in some universities despite sustained interest in, and debate about, the development of environmental and social responsibility agendas throughout the 1990s. As the accounting literature speaks of the failure of teaching to reflect business and practitioner needs (AECC, 1990b), the paper posits that the lack of SEA teaching may be seen as an illustration of this failing.

Anglo‐American capitalism: the role and potential role of social accounting

Purpose - This paper seeks to consider the impact and potential impact of social accounting at the macro level. It aims to explore the potential for “silent” or “shadow” social accounting to hold Anglo-American capitalism to account for its social outcomes relative to other “varieties of capitalism”. Design/methodology/approach - The role of accounting in spreading Anglo-American capitalist values is outlined. This is followed by a discussion of macro social indicators and their potential to problematise social outcomes. In particular the paper reports on, and updates, an investigation of comparative child mortality figures in wealthy countries that appeared in the medical literature. This evidence is used both as an exemplar and as a substantive issue in its own right. Findings - The specific empirical evidence reported, based on a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of child mortality and its relationship to income inequality, exemplifies the consistently poor and relatively worsening performance of the Anglo-American capitalist model. A rationale, and evidence, is also presented for the potential of such social reporting to act as an accountability mechanism. Originality/value - The paper introduces to the accounting literature specific evidence of poor social outcomes associated with Anglo-American capitalism. It considers the wider potential role of social indicators, as a component of silent and shadow reporting at a macro-level, in problematising dominant forms of economic and social organisation.

The Development of Trainee Auditors' Skills in Tertiary Education

This research examines the skills that practitioners, academics and students think are important for trainee auditors to possess for a successful auditing career. The research is based on the educational theories of experiential learning and information-processing. These theories suggest that graduates expecting to go into the auditing profession should have: (i) some concrete experience upon which to base an understanding of the techniques that they will be expected to learn once they begin audit work; and (ii) an understanding of basic constructs upon which new learning can be applied and built to then be able to critically examine and question the evidence that is presented to them on an audit. This study investigates the teaching methods that are used at UK universities on accounting degree programmes and assesses whether these two objectives are being met.

SCAM: Design of a learning and teaching resource

Abstract University accounting students often have to assimilate technical auditing knowledge without practical audit experience. The desire to develop an appropriate experiential opportunity motivated this research – to create an audit teaching and learning resource to simulate audit experience and facilitate the development of transferable skills. Literature findings and dedicated questionnaire survey results suggested that such a resource should: (i) use a web based case-study to simulate a real-life audit scenario; (ii) require group working of the participants; (iii) facilitate the use and development of a range of transferable skills; and (iv) encourage a consideration of the wider business context. The web-based resource SCAM (www.scam-plc.co.uk) was developed to address these aims. This paper details this development process.

The management of interest rate risk: evidence from UK companies

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the interest rate risk management (IRRM) practices of UK‐listed companies. In particular, it examines the significance of interest rate risk (IRR) to these companies as well as the risk management practices adopted, including: the methods used to assess the level of IRR and the types of interest rate forecasts used in the process; derivatives activity; and corporate governance, reporting and control.Design/methodology/approach – A series of semi‐structured interviews was conducted with the treasurers of ten UK companies in order to provide an in‐depth analysis of IRRM.Findings – The results of this research suggest that IRR is important to UK companies and that their IRR hedging strategies are geared towards managing shareholder considerations and protecting banking covenants and corporate credit ratings. Moreover, companies rely extensively on financial derivatives to manage their IRR although their corporate governance practices relating to derivatives usage, in some...

Why UK companies hedge interest rate risk

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the interest rate risk management (IRRM) practices of UK companies. In particular, the study examines five theories that have been advanced in the literature to explain why companies hedge: tax and regulatory arbitrage; under-investment, volatility of earnings and future planning; financial distress; managerial self-interest; and economies of scale. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses a questionnaire survey to examine the importance of hedging theories and to look at the detailed risk management practices of companies. Findings - The research findings confirm that all five theories of financial risk management have some support in practice. However, while the responses to some questions supported the theories, other information elicited from the questionnaires did not. This finding demonstrates that studies which employ large disaggregated datasets that result in generalised conclusions often miss the dynamic nature of corporate affairs and that, as such, more qualitative research is needed in this area. Originality/value - The use of a questionnaire survey facilitates an investigation of the IRRM practices of companies on an individual basis rather than the aggregated analysis afforded by most quantitative studies in finance. In addition, the qualitative approach adopted here permits an examination of many factors that relate to risk management practices, rather than just a limited number of financial ratios or factors that are typically used in studies of large datasets.

The development of accounting in UK universities : an oral history

This article reports on the development of the accounting discipline in universities in England and Scotland from the 1960s. Drawing on the oral history narratives of six distinguished accounting scholars who played a significant role in the discipline, this article documents (1) the initial influences on the teaching of accounting in English universities, (2) the different influences on the teaching of accounting in Scottish universities and (3) the influence of US universities and their scholars on the development of academic accounting in the United Kingdom. With a focus on the second wave of accounting professoriate who followed the London School of Economics (LSE) ‘Triumvirate’ of William Baxter, Harold Edey and David Solomons, this article provides first-hand insights into the shape and spread of university accounting education at a crucial stage of its development. This, in turn, develops an understanding of the contemporary academic accounting discipline in the United Kingdom.