Japanese accounting academics’ perceptions on the global convergence of accounting education in Japan

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a survey on the perception of the globalisation of accounting education among academics teaching at tertiary schools in Japan. With the acceleration of globalism in accounting education, the aim of this exploratory research is to investigate the perceptions of Japanese academics toward this global convergence. Design/methodology/approach – The sample was collected from accounting educators who were teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate level of the tertiary institutes in Japan. The subjects chosen for the survey were 300 members of the Japanese Accounting Association (JAA) and were randomly selected from the 2010 JAA Members’ Directory. A total of 87 responses were received producing an effective response rate of 29 per cent. Findings – The analysis of this study found that the majority of Japanese accounting academics’ believed that the International Education Standards had no substantial effect on accounting education. Further it was found that most of the academics did not know how they could confront these obstacles to achieve global convergence, although they were aware of the impediments. Research limitations – This study failed to portray any possible suggestions or solutions on how to improve future accounting education. Also the sample size was not large enough to generalise the findings. Finally, this study simply used the samples collected from the one single nation of Japan. Practical implications – The findings will provide a positive direction for standard setters, policy makers and regulatory authorities on how they should proceed in both the design of their promotion strategies and on how to address obstacles that have arisen according to these perceptions. Originality/value – The primary strength of this study was the fact that it was the first study in the literature to shed light on the perceptions of accounting academics in Japan on the global convergence of accounting education.