The Pathways Commission Report: Relevance for Accounting Higher Education in Developing Countries

Abstract

This article highlights the relevance of the Pathways Commission report (PCR) to accounting higher education in one of the developing regions of the world. Using qualitative research method and triangulation it examines the issues surrounding the provision of accounting higher education in the Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) region. The commentary is conducted against the backdrops of the growth in both the demand and supply of higher education, the globalization of accounting curricula and advances in information technology. The findings are three. First, despite the heterogeneity and the gap between rich and poor nations, many of the recommendations of the PCR are relevant to SSA countries. Second, consistent with theory, policies that lead to high quality accounting education and research have aspects of capability, duality, and endogeneity in moving a nation from one development stage to the next. Third, the commentary conjectures that the globalization of the content of professional education and the emergence of transnational-virtual universities are more than likely to continue to change the landscape of accounting higher education and the labor process in the region.