Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on understanding the vocational skills required by graduates and assessing the competence of graduates for the management accountancy profession. It explores ‘expectation gaps’ by examining whether the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, practitioner employers and university educators have different expectations with regard to the important vocational skills for graduates. The research aim is to generate a greater understanding of the factors that create identified expectation gaps between the above stakeholders and to explore the implications of any gaps. The research was conducted by interviewing stakeholders and a survey of university accounting educators in UK and Ireland business schools. Expectation gaps between the stakeholders were identified. These expectation gaps appear to exist owing to conflicting views on the purpose of university education. The paper contributes to the growing debates about the general role of higher education in society and the role of university accounting educators in supplying graduate trainee accountants for the management accountancy profession.
Highlights
It explores whether the professional management accountancy body (CIMA), practitioner employers, and university educators have different expectations about vocational skill sets required of management accountants by examining what these different stakeholder groups say are the vocational skills needed by graduate trainee accountants
What the stakeholders view as the required vocational skills is compared with the education provided to determine whether there are any expectation gaps between what Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) specifies as the required standard for competency, the education offered by universities and the requirements of employers
All the practitioner employers interviewed believe that university accounting educators can, and should, provide degree programmes that respond to the needs of business and the accounting profession
Summary
There has been much debate regarding the future direction of accounting education in general (May et al, 1995; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Parker, 2001; Cappelletto, 2010; Behn et al, 2012; Hopper, 2013; Evans, 2014; Flood, 2014) and the essential knowledge and skill sets required by management accountants in particular (Novin et al, 1990; Parker, 2002; Scapens et al, 2003; Hassall, 2005). 4. Research Results 4.1 The CIMA official, practitioner employers’ and university educators’ interview findings This section compares and summarises the three stakeholders’ views on the role of university education in the development of graduates’ vocational skills and knowledge for the role of trainee management accountants in order to discover reasons for any possible ‘expectation gaps’ between CIMA employers and educators. To determine whether expectations differ with regard to the essential skill sets required by graduate trainee management accountants, an examination was made of what the different stakeholder groups (university educators and CIMA practitioner employers) believe are the important vocational skills. & outcomes of their own work, verbally, to colleagues, clients and superiors (com2)
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