Essential skills needed by accounting graduates in a developing country: the views of practising accountants and accounting educators in Botswana

K.V. Mgaya and E.G. Kitindi

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2009, vol. 5, issue 3, 329-351

Abstract: This article reports the views of practicing accountants and accounting educators on essential skills for accounting students in Botswana. The data collected using questionnaires from all lecturers in three accountancy training institutions and a sample of accounting practitioners was used to extract the respondents' views on the importance of some technical, vocational and information technology skills taught to students. Results show that all technical skills were considered important. Furthermore, results of t-tests show that the composition of the top six courses on the basis of importance is the same for the two groups. There were few significant differences in opinion between educators and practitioners. The views, however, suggest that the accounting profession is still stuck in the past, taking into account the impact information technology and globalisation are having on the accounting profession. Accounting educators also do not seem to appreciate the wider role of accountants in a modern organisation.

Keywords: accounting curriculum; accounting educators; accounting practitioners; accounting students; Botswana; information technology; IT skills; technical skills; vocational skills; accounting graduates; developing countries. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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