The expectation performance gap in accounting education: a review of generic skills development in UK accounting degrees

ABSTRACT

Accounting educators are criticised for a focus on the development of technical skills at the expense of generic employability skills. This study considers the perspective of UK graduates training for the CIMA professional accountancy qualification and examines their perceptions of the extent to which opportunities for generic skills development are exploited in accounting degrees. The results are compared with opportunities for generic skills development in degrees from other discipline areas, formal work-based training and the training undertaken when studying for professional examinations. The results of the questionnaire-based survey suggest that there is scope for improvement in the extent to which universities exploit opportunities for the development of generic skills. However, across most skill areas trainees’ perceptions of opportunities for the development of generic skills in UK accounting degrees are comparable to those offered in other discipline areas and compare favourably to those offered in both professional training and formal work-based training. The results indicate that the development of oral communication skills, the ability to take a comprehensive and global vision of an organisation, resilience and ethical awareness could be improved.

KEYWORDS:

• Graduate generic skills
• graduates’/employers’ perceptions
• trainee management accountants
• skills gap

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following colleagues at the University of York for their valuable feedback during early stages of the review process: Josephine Maltby, Philip Linsley and Cecilia Lowe.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 These skills are also referred to in the literature as non-technical or personal competencies (Bui & Porter, 2010; Jackson & Chapman, 2012), vocational (Arquero Montano, Antonio Donoso Anes, Hassall, & Joyce, 2001) or employability skills (Stoner & Milner, 2010).

2 The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA) and Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).

3 Since this research was completed the QAA Accounting Benchmark Statement has been reviewed and is under revision.