Students’ Perceptions and Expectation Gap on the Skills and Knowledge of Accounting Graduates

Abstract

This study aims to describe the perceptions of accounting students and expectations of employers towards the skills and knowledge needed by accounting graduates in Indonesia. Quantitative method using survey is employed to analyze 103 questionnaires from students and 51 questionnaires from employers. The results showed that students' perceived honesty, continuous learning, and work ethics are important skills, while employers stress the importance of work ethics, teamwork, and time management. Knowledge needed by accounting graduates in the perception of students includes financial accounting, financial reporting, and financial statement analysis, whereas employers perceived the importance of financial statement analysis, knowledge of Microsoft Office program, and financial accounting. Further analysis showed that there is an expectation gap between the perceptions of students and the expectations of employers towards skills - not knowledge - needed by accounting graduates. Although investigations of students' perceptions and employers' expectations have been conducted in previous studies, the information should be updated continuously to reflect the current conditions. This study offers the recent perceptions from students and employers to identify the current expectation gap. This study points to the importance of skills development in the university curriculum in order to develop the skillful human resources in accounting and meet the expectations of employers.