Accounting Education Gap

The aim of this project focuses on the expectation gap between the skills and readiness that Swedish accounting graduates possess and those expected of them by their future employers.

The accounting and auditing profession has been broadened in the past decade to also include other services beyond traditional accounting. For example, some new areas include sustainability and digitalization. Along this, auditing firms have begun to recruit graduates from other disciplines besides traditional business administration. Employers also express that business administration graduates lack some essential skills that employers expect. Does this mean that, today’s higher education in accounting is not in line with the needs of the profession? We argue that the increase in non-accounting graduate hiring presents areas of research opportunity.

Using in-depth interviews and surveys of professionals, we document and analyze the specific expectation gaps associated with both hard and soft skills. We want to examine what Swedish employers perceive as shortage of skills from accounting graduates of Swedish higher education. Through gaining better understanding of the needs and expectations of employers, Swedish accounting education in universities and colleges can better prepare and educate students for their future careers and further bridge accounting education and the profession.