Undergraduate accounting students: prepared for the workplace?

Purpose – This paper aims to explore and investigate student perceptions as to what generic skills they considered were important for accountants and to what extent these skills were developed by their programme of study. Design/methodology/approach – Data gathered from 357 UK undergraduate accounting degree graduates were used to develop insights into perceived relevance of current skills development and provided a basis for developments of the programme to better meet student skills development in preparation for them being accountants. Findings – Areas determined as requiring further development within the programme to better meet perceived required skills of accountants are those of team working, oral communication, interpersonal and career planning and interviewing skills. Research limitations/implications – Conclusions drawn are only from a student perspective and do not reflect wider stakeholder perspective. Practical implications – This study sought to understand what skills students perceive could benefit from development within the programme. Social implications – The motivation for this study was to respond to criticism that students on graduation were not achieving desired level of skills that would be important to their chosen field. Originality/value – Further skills including leadership, entrepreneurship and conflict management were skills perceived by students as important for their current employment.