Students’ experience of pervasive skills acquired through sponsored projects in an undergraduate accounting degree

Abstract: An accounting graduate should not only possess technical knowledge, but also core competencies and pervasive skills necessary to meet the needs of employers and society as a whole. This study is centred on the undergraduate accounting programme of a South African university where several sponsored projects are offered to develop these skills. Purposive sampling was used to gain insights into the perceptions of students on whether these skills were developed throughout their degree. It was found that the students perceived a wide range of pervasive skills to be developed through their participation in the sponsored projects. These findings are consistent with literature, which emphasises the importance of such skills in the students’ future careers. Most notably, students gained a better understanding of the role of an accountant through their participation in the sponsored projects as well as finding them effective learning experiences. The challenges reported by students were the social aspect and the ability to work successfully in a team