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This is a study of the future of accounting education sponsored by the Institute of Management Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Accounting Association, and the Big 5. The authors, W.S. Albrecht from Brigham Young University and R.J. Sack from the University of Virginia, were charged to prepare "a high-level thought piece, supported by evidence where possible, aboutthe future of accounting education"That they did.
The research methodology of this study consisted of:
1. reading recent authoritative reports of the AAA, IMA and AICPA as well as recent accounting education articles,
2. interviewing many leaders of business, accounting, and consulting,
3. conducting focus-group sessions with individuals selected by the four sponsoring organizations and
4. circulating three questionnaire surveys.
This study falls in the tradition of the Bedford Report(1986) by the American Accounting Association, which also found that accounting education was inadequate, and the Big 8 White Paper (1989), which echoed the conclusions of the Bedford Report from a practitioners' perspective. Albrecht and Sack paint a gloomy picture of state of accounting education today, providing evidence to show that recent changes in accounting education have not been satisfactory. The authors point to significantly decreasing student enrollments in accounting programs nationwide. Beyond that, they observe that accounting practitioners and educators are so disenchanted with their profession that they would major in another discipline if they had the opportunity to restart their careers from scratch. The authors do not just criticize the deplorable status of accounting education, but also recommend specific changes for its survival.
This monograph consists of six chapters:
1. "Why Accounting Education May Not Survive in the Future"
2. "Changes in the Business Environment"
3. "Fewer and Less Qualified Students Are Choosing Accounting as a Major"
4. "Why Accounting Practitioners and Educators Would...