Employability of accounting graduates: analysis of skills sets

Abstract

This study assessed the extent universities had equipped accounting graduates with employable skills. It employed descriptive cross-sectional survey with a random sample of 435 employees and accounting graduates. Separate questionnaires were administered first to the employees in soliciting essential skills needed in the accounting profession, and then to the accounting graduates in measuring the development of these skills in them. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that accounting graduates had developed two-thirds of the 18 skills employees considered essential to the accounting profession. IT skills, constituting remaining one-third of the essential skills, were not fully developed. Also, graduates' technical competence development was found to be influenced by the type of institution attended. It was recommended that universities should modify their accounting curriculum to reflect the teaching of IT skills, as potential employers of accounting graduates consider entrenching IT skills in recruits’ orientation and development programs.