The global marketplace is changing. Businesses rely more and more on changing technology. The companies, services and Industries that fuel economic growth also are evolving. In this new marketplace, traditional accountants are a dying breed. Technology has made preparing and disseminating financial information so inexpensive anyone with the right software can produce basic data. Yet, many accounting educators have failed to restructure accounting curriculum to equip graduates with the tools and expertise they need in today’s business world.
As a exult, fewer and less-qualified students choose accounting careers, and the future of accounting schools as top-tier providers of business graduates is at risk. Fast Facts The percentage of college students majoring in accounting dropped to 2% in 2000 from 4% in 1990. The percentage of high school students who Intend to major In accounting fell to 1% in 2000 from 2% in 1990. More than 80% of faculty members surveyed said there were fewer qualified accounting students than five years ago. Accounting department heads reported that information systems graduates amended the highest starting salaries among business-related graduates.
Faculty members and practitioners agreed paying higher starting salaries was the most Important step corporations and accounting firms could take to attract better students Into the accounting profession. Source: Accounting Education: Charting the Course through a Perilous Future, move. Ayahs. Org/pubs/Agaves/dotcom . One of the early warning signs that major changes In accounting education were needed came when major CPA firms reengineering themselves as “professional revise” rather than “public accounting’ firms.
So convinced were they of the need for drama change, not even Intense SEC pressure could deter them from offering the services the marketplace demanded. Unlike the academic community, CPA firms were quick to realize that new business realities demanded a broader set of competencies. Some faculty argue that the loss tot the best students to other majors is due to higher starting salaries. Employers, they say, aren’t paying accounting graduates as much as those with other majors such as consulting and computer yester.
While starting salary is certainly an issue, is it the only reason the best and brightest students are choosing fields other than accounting in growing numbers? Why have the starting salaries of accounting majors decreased relative to other majors? Perhaps salary Tarantellas rennet marketplace expectations auto valuable skills, knowledge and abilities. Faculty who label starting salary as the culprit should consider that the real reason may be an accounting curriculum that both employers and students no longer value.
