Abstract:

According to Accounting Education literature, while financial analysis is a key requirement of accounting graduates, other more generic skills are increasingly required. This literature tells us that there “is scope for improvement in the extent to which universities exploit opportunities for the development of generic skills” (Webb & Chaffer 2016, p.349). In particular development of areas of communication (Web & Chaffer 2016; Riley & Simons 2016; Tan & Laswad 2018), teamwork and IT skills (Pan & Seow 2016), could be improved. Graduates and employers agree that accounting education still needs to progress in enhancing these skills (Dolce, Emanuel, Cisi & Ghislieri 2020. In Munster Technological University all first-year Accounting students undertake a Creativity, Innovation and Teamwork (CIT) module in which we build key skills required by potential employers. In doing so student not only build these skills and a sense of what could be required of them in the workplace, but also a sense of belonging with the accounting profession. This poster introduces the teaching and assessment of the CIT module and presents our Accounting students’ opinions of their development of key skills as a result of this module.

Even before taking this module, students reported being confident about their report writing and teamwork skills, and these levels of confidence remained after completing the professional development module. Confidence levels in creating a presentation and presenting were low before this module and improved significantly after undertaking this module. Even though students were asked to present twice during this module (week 4 and week 15), they still did not report increased confidence to very good or excellent levels. This is something that will be consider as an area of improvement in subsequent iterations of this module and also for modules in subsequent semesters of the Accounting degree programme. The CIT module also aims to give students insight into what could be ahead for as future accounting professional. Students’ knowledge of what could be required of them to become accountants and knowledge of what it is to be accountants were enhanced significantly after taking this module. Improved skill-sets and knowledge of the profession and the possible pathways ahead help students to build a sense of belonging with their chosen profession. Future research is required to further explore if an enhanced skills and sense of belonging are beneficial to students when applying for and undertaking placement during the degree programme, or when applying for graduate roles.

References:
[1] Dolce,V. , Emanuel,F., Cisi,M. & Ghislieri,C. 2020. The soft skills of accounting graduates: perceptions versus expectations, Accounting Education, 29(1), 57-76.
[2] Pan, G & Seow, P. 2016. Preparing accounting graduates for digital revolution: A crit-ical review of information technology competencies and skills development, Journal of Education for Business,91(3), 166-175.
[3] Riley,TJ. & Simons,KA. 2016. The written communication skills that matter most for accountants. Accounting Education (London, England) 25(3):239-255.
[4] Tan,LM. & Laswad,F. 2018. Professional skills required of accountants: what do job advertisements tell us? Accounting education (London, England) 2 (4):403-432.
[5] Webb,J. & Chaffer,C. 2016.The expectation performance gap in accounting educa-tion: a review of generic skills development in UK accounting degrees, Accounting Education, 25(4), 349-367.

Keywords:

Skills, accounting graduates, education.