The Accounting Education of Graduates: Is It Meeting the Needs of Employers? Evidence from Cyprus

The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence concerning the relationship between the education of accounting graduates and the industry, with particular emphasis on their knowledge and skills in accounting degree programs. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were analyzed and used in order to examine the relationship between the skills of accounting graduates and the needs of employers. It was found that in certain areas, accounting graduates are lacking in technological skills, analytical skills, and writing skills. The evidence is provided that employers are more positive concerning the use of technical skills in the workplace than students. The implication of the results is that graduates do not realize the importance of technology skills and this raises the question whether technology skills should be increased in graduate programs in accounting or not. It is recommended that the application of International Accounting Education Standards (IAES) can help improve the quality of accounting education in many accounting institutions since the IAES aims to bridge the gap between educational institutes and the industry in the accounting field. A few studies have been carried out in Cyprus in this area and the article can act as a base for future research in accounting education.

Keywords:

Accounting education , accounting graduates , knowledge skills , technical skills