An Investigation of practitioners' and students' conceptions of accounting work

This thesis aims at exploring conceptions held of accounting work by students and practitioners. The findings are useful for informing accounting education and the curriculum and thus enhance accounting graduate readiness for work. This thesis addresses three research questions: 1. What are practitioners' conceptions of accounting work? 2. What are accounting students' conceptions of accounting work? 3. What are the similarities and differences between practitioners' and students' conceptions of accounting work? Phenomenographic findings revealed a common awareness of the functional aspects of accounting work; but students possessed only very inchoate understandings of social and ethical issues. Practitioners' conceptions of such issues suggest that accounting graduates will face significant challenges as they enter a profession which has undergone significant changes in recent times.88 page(s