There is increasing evidence that Nigerian University graduates, particularly graduates of accounting programs lack employable skills that are essential to the real world and competencies that are needed in growing knowledge industries, complex business environments and globalized capital markets. The issue of employability has long been debated in literature in various countries, pointing out that the issue is not peculiar to a particular country but is rapidly becoming an area of concern globally and in all disciplines including accounting. The accounting curriculum has long been criticized for being too narrow, outmoded and defective; as it has failed to equip students sufficiently for employment in the business environment. The primary aim of this study is to examine Tertiary Institutions Accounting Programs and the employability of accounting graduates considering the skills expectation-performance gap in Nigeria. Three objectives were formulated in this regard. The study adopted a survey and experimental research design focusing on students from selected universities students in Lagos and Professional Accountants from the Big 4’s accounting firms. Based on the analyses, the Management information system is a significant determinant of data literacy skills and tech-savviness of accounting graduates, Accounting courses sharpen students’ analytical and innovation skills of graduates and other social and academic events significantly enhance the quality of accounting graduates in Nigeria. The study therefore concluded that the accounting curriculum to a large extent affects the employability of accounting graduates. It was recommended among others that tertiary institutions should extensively improve the curriculum, curriculum should be designed in line with requisite industry requirements. Tertiary institutions which have not included internships in the curriculum should consider its inclusion.
Published in | Journal of Business and Economic Development (Volume 8, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12 |
Page(s) | 83-93 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Accounting Curriculum, Employability, Tertiary Institutions
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APA Style
Ogundeko Sodiq Temitayo, Sholuade Grace Temitope. (2023). Tertiary Institutions Accounting Program and Employability of Accounting Graduates in Nigeria. Journal of Business and Economic Development, 8(3), 83-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12
ACS Style
Ogundeko Sodiq Temitayo; Sholuade Grace Temitope. Tertiary Institutions Accounting Program and Employability of Accounting Graduates in Nigeria. J. Bus. Econ. Dev. 2023, 8(3), 83-93. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12
AMA Style
Ogundeko Sodiq Temitayo, Sholuade Grace Temitope. Tertiary Institutions Accounting Program and Employability of Accounting Graduates in Nigeria. J Bus Econ Dev. 2023;8(3):83-93. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12
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TY - JOUR T1 - Tertiary Institutions Accounting Program and Employability of Accounting Graduates in Nigeria AU - Ogundeko Sodiq Temitayo AU - Sholuade Grace Temitope Y1 - 2023/09/06 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12 DO - 10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12 T2 - Journal of Business and Economic Development JF - Journal of Business and Economic Development JO - Journal of Business and Economic Development SP - 83 EP - 93 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2637-3874 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20230803.12 AB - There is increasing evidence that Nigerian University graduates, particularly graduates of accounting programs lack employable skills that are essential to the real world and competencies that are needed in growing knowledge industries, complex business environments and globalized capital markets. The issue of employability has long been debated in literature in various countries, pointing out that the issue is not peculiar to a particular country but is rapidly becoming an area of concern globally and in all disciplines including accounting. The accounting curriculum has long been criticized for being too narrow, outmoded and defective; as it has failed to equip students sufficiently for employment in the business environment. The primary aim of this study is to examine Tertiary Institutions Accounting Programs and the employability of accounting graduates considering the skills expectation-performance gap in Nigeria. Three objectives were formulated in this regard. The study adopted a survey and experimental research design focusing on students from selected universities students in Lagos and Professional Accountants from the Big 4’s accounting firms. Based on the analyses, the Management information system is a significant determinant of data literacy skills and tech-savviness of accounting graduates, Accounting courses sharpen students’ analytical and innovation skills of graduates and other social and academic events significantly enhance the quality of accounting graduates in Nigeria. The study therefore concluded that the accounting curriculum to a large extent affects the employability of accounting graduates. It was recommended among others that tertiary institutions should extensively improve the curriculum, curriculum should be designed in line with requisite industry requirements. Tertiary institutions which have not included internships in the curriculum should consider its inclusion. VL - 8 IS - 3 ER -