Integrating workplace learning into an accounting capstone course: an Australian university's experience

The skills required of accounting professionals have changed drastically during the last few decades with the advent of information technology and the impact of globalisation. Accounting graduates now may not be equipped with the necessary skills to perform well in the corporate world. Employers expect graduates to be able to adapt quickly and be prepared and productive soon after joining. However, this is not the case as there is an increasing gap between what accountants do and what accounting academics teach. This study aims to investigate how the gaps between the skills needed by practitioners and the skills of the new graduates can be effectively narrowed or closed through the introduction of a work integration course in the accounting curriculum giving students a taste of the workplace before they enter the workforce. It is an attempt to identify skills and attributes required by participating employers and mapping them to tasks that students perform in their learning during their work attachment. The assessments will also reflect on the skills students have learnt and make the students' learning experience interesting, practical and relevant. The findings in this study will assist other accounting educators to incorporate workplace learning in the accounting curriculum to meet the needs of the employers by learning from our experience. It also hopes to find out if the workplace attachment will result in increased permanent positions when the students graduate. This study should also stimulate interest in the professions by fostering improved communications and better aligning accounting education and research with the needs and problems not just of the profession but also with the demands and desires of society genereally. Interactions and insights into the practice of accounting, financial management and information technology will be beneficial to the current accounting program