Bridging skill gaps and creating future ready accounting and finance graduates: an exploratory study

Changing trends in the use of technology have become an impelling force to be reckoned with for the accounting and finance profession. The curriculum offered in higher learning institutions must be quickly revamped so that students who complete a bachelor’s degree are digitally competent upon graduation. With US$55.3 billion invested in FinTech in 2019 alone and more than 72% of accounting jobs being automated, graduates must be trained on digital skills to be future proof. Accounting and finance graduates must be made competent in skills that are related to digital content such as blockchain technology, information assets and autonomous peer to peer systems, to name a few. Methods: We used a three-phase approach: 1) careful mapping of digital topics taught within the course structure offered at these institutions; 2) review of current best practices and digital learning tools for digital inclusion which was ascertained from literature; and 3) 80 experts in a think tank group were interviewed on antecedents, awareness and problems in relation to digital inclusion within the curriculum to validate our research objective