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What measures has academia taken to improve courses offered to Accounting majors that will meet the demands required by potential employers?: A review of the literature.

Basu, Sudipta. “Is There Any Scientific Basis for Accounting? Implications for Practice, Research, and Education.” Journal of International Accountancy Research Convention, 2014. Questia, www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-14183053/reforming-accounting-education. Accessed 28 Oct. 2018.

The author examines whether accounting practice, regulation, research, and teaching are based on robust scientific theory. He argues that they frequently are not but should be. This research was selected because the author sheds light on how various government agencies may be responsible for the lack of scientific theory in the accounting curriculum. These agencies are largely responsible for the accounting rules that show up in accounting textbooks used in the U.S. and many other countries. These regulations encourage rote memorization and teach to the CPA exam only and not what the student will encounter in the real world. Samuel then goes on to show how this lack of current accounting theory is responsible for the accounting graduates who are poorly equipped and do not have the critical thinking skills needed to work within the theory and also look for the means to improve the theory. His research indicates how poor and outdated standards are difficult to change and need to be challenged.

Samuel, Sajay. “A Conceptual Framework for Teaching Management Accounting.” Journal of Accounting Education, 44, 2018, pp. 25-34. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2018.05.004. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

This source discusses the need to better define a framework for teaching Management Accounting (MA) courses due to the change in the complexity of the MA role in business organizations. He theorizes that MA needs to separate its curriculum to achieve a better level of recognizable logic which will be more helpful to those entering the MA profession. The author undertakes a literature review of the various other research projects on this topic to show that other teaching MA have also been thinking about this same issue. This study was selected because it indicates that a dynamic process may be in progress in higher education to keep up with what the future holds for accounting courses. It seems to me that Samuel is laying out a template for not just changes to MA courses but one that might be used to overhaul other accounting courses. He investigates research done on the frameworks of other courses with a wider focus on topics specific to MA which to me is a way of prodding others who teach accounting classes to reconsider the framework they are currently using and suggest development of another.

Wells, Paul K. “How Well Do Our Introductory Accounting Text Books Reflect Current Accounting Practice.” Journal of Accounting Education, 42, Jan. 2018, pp. 40-48. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2017.12.003. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

Wells’ research examines how well textbooks contribute to accounting education. In fact, he believes the textbooks contribute to the current disconnection between accounting education and its practice. He finds that the scope of accounting has been severely limited and doesn’t reflect the opportunities, challenges, and roles that are a service to society. Thus this study dovetails with and supports the literature review my paper hopes to accomplish. It takes a look at how textbooks tend to dismiss the wider avenues that accounting can afford to students, once again limiting their ability to develop the critical thinking skills that will help to expand the horizons of the accounting profession. Critical skill development has been mentioned in several of the studies reviewed for this paper. Once again, we will see that many external factors that are far removed from the practical accounting experience are leading the accounting programs at many universities and not to the benefit of students who attend.