Mind the Gap. Academic Study to Professional Practice. By: Dawn Cable Mary Dale Ron Day. Macquarie University. The Policy Gap

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1 Mind the Gap Academic Study to Professional Practice By: Dawn Cable Mary Dale Ron Day Macquarie University The Policy Gap The Managing Director, Robert Half Aust..estimates that there are 4 jobs for every 1 accountant in Australia (BRW, Feb 2006, p.70) Although the recent growth in students studying accounting has come almost entirely from increases in full-fee paying overseas students, most do not find employment as accountants (BRW, Mar 2006, p.54) Most accounting graduates from non-english speaking countries particularly from Asian countries who have trained at Australian Universities are struggling to find work in Australia as professional accountants (Birrell in Andrews, BRW, Feb 2006, p.70) Australian International Education Conference

2 The Policy Gap Skilled migration program Severe shortage of accountants increase in accountants Accountants from Non-English-Speaking Background not finding work in Accounting The Education - Cultural Gap International students Accounting degree program in Australia Differences: Assumes: * culture & language * traditional student profile * learning environment * good English language and * expectations and communication skills educational outcomes * continuous assessment Deficit model response * omitting assessment tasks that require language ability * high failures rates or lowering pass standards * shifting responsibility to EAP and other programs Australian International Education Conference

3 The Education - Cultural Gap The current model of accounting education was developed 40 years ago.. when the student profile was very different to what it is today..there has been little attempt to accommodate the changing nature of the student profile and to meet the need for generic communication skills that are demanded by employers A common practice in universities is to apply a deficit model response that characterises overseas students as problems; deficient in adequate language and communication skills. (Lawrence, 2004, p.244) An example of this in the press is: marking standards have been lowered to cater for international students (SMH, May 7-8, 2005) Academic Study Professional Practice Gap Walters (2004), Jones & Sin (2003), Simister (2001) found employers are particularly looking for a high level of presentation and communication skills in potential employees Birrell (BRW, Feb, 2006) argues that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that there have been problems for overseas students being able to find employment partly because they do not have proficient-level english He states.. English language appears to be absolutely fundamental because if a person can t communicate, write reports, or deal with customers, it is very unlikely that an employer would be willing to take them on Australian International Education Conference

4 Academic Study Professional Practice Gap Academic/professional Employment in qualifying programs professional practise * technically comprehensive * requires technical competency * assumes traditional profile language & communication * emphasis on excellent competency - communication skills * Profession qualifying programs - professional skills require self study and little communication skill requirements Macquarie Uni response * Aim is to mind the gap and put in strategies to bridge it * 2002 response - The LPCA program * 2004 response - MAcc (CPA Extension) program The LPCA Project The Language for Professional Communication in Accounting (LPCA) arose from a collaborative relationship with the National Centre for English Language Teaching & Research (NCELTR) to support and build language and communication skills within the MAcc program The LPCA sought to: encourage staff to reflect on their individual teaching and learning practices support staff to integrate & develop communication / professional skills in their units and assessment tasks develop NCELTR communication/professional skill classes within units, and workshops outside class time Australian International Education Conference

5 The LPCA Project The collaborative LPCA project has resulted in: shared responsibility for development of skills ownership at the subject level and an holistic integrated approach at the program level significant improvement in communication skills An embedded approach, rather than an add-on, distinguishes the LPCA project from other projects, and is largely responsible for its success Recent events have confirmed the initiatives taken Birrell & Rapson (2005) Report and Professional Bodies have now responded CPA Members Survey (June 2006) The LPCA Project MAcc lecturer interviews (2005) [My involvement with NCLTR] has given me a greater appreciation of trying to encourage students to develop [communication] skills, rather than simply focussing on whatever it is that we were looking at. I can look back now and say look, there s definitely been some benefits I think it s very important, we don t want to go back to what we had. Four years ago the very first assignment I ever marked at Macquarie [had] the most appalling grammar [and] presentation I have ever seen I m pleased to say that over the past couple of years, the quality of assignments is far superior. So I think its having a positive impact Australian International Education Conference

6 MAcc (CPA Extension) In 2004 we considered how the LPCA project could be more effective for international students full time for 13 units (4 trimesters) only visa restrictions meant returning to home country to do complete CPA program with no academic or LPCA support In this context, we proposed the M.Acc (CPA Ext) program to extend full time study period by 12 mths while students were enrolled in the CPA program Better CPA results and more exposure to LPCA program would aid employment prospects MAcc (CPA Extension) MAcc (CPA Ext) Structure 13 accounting conversion units over 4 trimesters 6 extension units over a further 2 semesters to extend and expand understanding of CPA program content, and continue to LPCA communication and professional skills while concurrently enrolled in the CPA program The final grade consists of: 60% internal assessment, including professional and communication skill tasks & assessments 40% based on the CPA exam in CPA program Australian International Education Conference

7 MAcc (CPA Extension) Outcomes of the MAcc (CPA Ext) include: Largest professional accounting program in Aust, despite its 2.5 yr duration (1500 students) One of the few experiencing strong int l growth MAcc (Ext) CPA exam grades are outstanding benchmarked against the entire CPA population partnership with NCELTR has increased the quality of teaching and learning High quality program which meets the needs of a diverse student population raised academic standards and results Conclusion Accounting educators have an ethical obligation to ensure the professional success of their graduates and in doing so must meet the challenges set by increasing international student numbers and growing demand from employers for graduates with high communication and technical skills. The MAcc (CPA ext) program actively seeks to bridge this gap by emphasising the development of skills that constitute essential employment criteria for accounting graduates. Australian International Education Conference