Embedding Generic Employability Skills in an Accounting Degree: Development and Impediments

Abstract

This paper explores and analyses the views of, and effects on, students of a project that integrated the development of employability skills within the small group classes of two compulsory courses in the first year of an accounting degree at a UK university. The project aimed to build, deliver and evaluate course materials designed to encourage the development of a broad range of employability skills: skills needed for life-long learning and a successful business career. By analysing students' opinions gathered from a series of focus groups spread throughout the year, three prominent skill areas of interest were identified: time management, modelling, and learning to learn. Further analysis highlighted the complex nature of skills development, and brought to light a range of impediments and barriers to both students' development of employability skills and their subject learning. The analysis suggests the need for accounting educators to see skills development as being an essential element of the path to providing a successful accounting education experience.

Keywords:

• Accounting education
• skills
• employability
• intellectual development
• modelling
• time management
• learning to learn

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding from the University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Development Fund, the help of other members of the initial research team Gillian MacIver, Hok-Leung Ronnie Lo and Mary McCulloch, and the helpful comments of the three anonymous reviewers.

Notes

The skills covered included; taking responsibility for learning; effective team work and work management; effective written, oral and visual communication and presentation skills; IT and data-handling skills; critical analysis of data, theory and sources; model building choices, application and evaluation; critical evaluation of, and searching for, alternative solutions; effective case analysis and contextual learning; and combining and synthesis of ideas. Further details of the project including details of the skills covered are reported in MacIver et al. (2005) and Milner and Stoner (2006).

Details of the courses are available from the Department's web site, at www.gla.ac.uk/departments/accountingfinance/ (accessed 4 March 2008).

Transcript quotations are all from individual students, an interchange or conversation is indicated thus; S indicates student, M indicates mediator (the independent LTS consultant). The month and focus group number are indicated in brackets.

Estimate here refers to the school teachers' estimates or forecasts of the questions and topics that are likely to be set in the public examinations.