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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the overall perceptions of accounting academics from Japan and Australia about global convergence of accounting education; and their beliefs about the contextual factors affecting the goal of global convergence.

The sample of this research was collected via a questionnaire-based survey of accounting academics who were teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate level in tertiary institutes in Japan and Australia. This study adapted the questionnaire originally used by Sugahara (2013) to extend the survey of accounting academics in Japan, to accounting academics in Australia. The questionnaire administered in this research asked their overall perceptions regarding the convergence of accounting education and associated contextual factors.

Findings reveal some similarities and differences across contextual factors that influence academic perceptions about global convergence. Further the authors identify a link between academic position and respondent views of global convergence.

The findings of this cross-country study provide insights for the International Accounting Education Standards Boards (IAESB) about the views of a key stakeholder group, accounting academics. Further the authors recommend the development of a communications strategy that targets accounting academics, and better explains the work of the IAESB and the intended value of global convergence using IES.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the generic skills that are important for the career success of accounting graduates in Sri Lanka from the perspectives of university educators and employers.

Bui and Porter's (2010) expectation-performance gap framework was modified to match with the context of the current study. Data collected via questionnaire survey was analysed for non-parametric tests: the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney test, using SPSS version 20, and quantified the expectation-performance gap and its components.

The major finding of this research is that the main cause for the expectation-performance gap, as identified in the analysis of the constraint gap is university educators’ low confidence in teaching the required generic skills for career success of graduates. However, university educators are aware of the employer expectations of graduate accountants in terms of generic skills. Employers indicated that many of the generic skills are not achieved by the accounting graduates.

Findings of this study reflect the importance of expanding the accounting curricula by embedding and assessing generic skill development activities. In addition, it is vital to develop the capacities of university educators in terms of teaching and assessing generic skills in accounting degree programmes.

This study contributes to the literature as one of few studies that investigate the generic skills development of accounting graduates in Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka.

To provide a view of quality in accounting education from the perspective of a critical stakeholder group – academic accountants. The identification of this view adds to the growing discussions around quality, and how it is assured in higher education.

Applying a framework for defining quality in higher education to an accounting context, a postal survey questionnaire was sent to academic accountants at 39 Australian universities to gather data about their views of quality in accounting education.

Academic accountants view quality, as currently defined and promoted in their immediate working environment, differently to their views about how quality should be defined and promoted. As a consequence, quality assurance and improvement systems may be currently designed to assure quality that is promoted in accounting education, rather than quality that ought to be promoted.

Using a postal survey to gather data on the complex issue of “quality” might not always provide the richness of data that may be collected during face‐to‐face survey interviews.

The findings of this study provide valuable input into the discussion around the design of quality assurance and improvement systems in higher education generally, and for accounting education specifically.

In the absence of any previous empirical research that has sought to identify these perceptions, the findings fill the gap in the literature by clearly identifying the views of quality in accounting education from a key stakeholder group – academic accountants.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the accounting education systems in three countries – Australia, Japan and Sri Lanka – to inform the development and testing (by application) of a Global Model of Accounting Education.

An action research methodology is applied with a case study and model development approach.

The case studies reveal variations in accounting education systems, which exist across the three countries examined in this research. Key differences (some significant and others nuanced) were found between accounting education systems and include: entry requirements to professional programs; accreditation processes; and benchmark discipline standards. These differences are provided for in the questions that underpin the model developed and applied as a key part of the research.

This model is presented as a tool to assist interested parties in any country to take initial steps to identify their own unique system of accounting education. It may also be of particular use in those countries in the early stages of developing an accounting education system. This understanding of accounting education systems enhances the opportunity for global convergence of accounting education.

The model, informed by the case studies, is an original contribution to the literature and discussions around global convergence in accounting education. The model is designed for practical application and the value is that it provides an important starting point for considering issues of importance in the development of a system of accounting education, and/or, better understanding the similarities and differences across existing systems.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate the generic skills developed during the undergraduate degree from the perspectives of final year undergraduates and graduate employers.

The list of generic skills tested in this study was contextualised to Sri Lanka and developed based on prior studies. Data obtained from stakeholders via a questionnaire survey was analysed using paired-sample t-test; independent sample t-test; principal component analysis; and one-way-analysis of variance (ANOVA), with a view to explore, evaluate and compare respondents’ perspectives.

Our findings revealed both stakeholders believe that most of the generic skills tested in this study are important for graduates’ career success. Consistent with prior studies, respondents prioritised generic skills for career success above technical skills. Final year accounting undergraduates are aware of the skill expectations in the employment market. However, they perceive that most of the important generic skills are not adequately developed during the degree.

Findings of this study inform the importance of adopting a holistic approach to the redesign of the accounting curricula to accommodate generic skill development during the degree. Suggestions include: establishing strong links between universities, professional accounting institutions and employers; introducing participatory methods of curriculum design; and assimilating continuous reviews and frequent updates to curricula.

Sri Lanka, a developing country, was selected for this research given that little has been reported in the literature in terms of generic skills development of accounting graduates in developing countries.

While designing group assessment for student learning outcomes is always difficult, the task is made more challenging in an interdisciplinary context. How much focus should be placed on assessment of discipline-specific knowledge, how much on the interdisciplinary knowledge that emerges as students work together in a non-linear, co-rational design and how much on the group dynamic (generic capabilities) being developed? While additional learning outcomes can be expected from the activities in which students engage in an interdisciplinary context, there is also an expectation, particularly for disciplines such as accounting, engineering and architecture where courses are professionally accredited, that discipline-specific learning outcomes are not compromised. This vignette presents some of the complexities that surfaced during the implementation of a pilot course designed as an experiential real world of work challenge for student.

Increasingly, academics new to higher education find themselves in a “publish or perish” environment, with little if any formal or informal support structures. This is a situation that many academics have faced and lamented. The discussion in this paper emanates from the objective of seeking to change this environment. The mentoring provided an opportunity to work collaboratively with accounting academics who are new to the higher education sector, and focuses on developing and/or enhancing a scholarly approach to teaching and learning.

The reflective practitioner model provides the theoretical framework that underpins this mentoring process. The discussion in this research paper provides an opportunity to explore this mentoring process, primarily aimed at developing and encouraging a scholarly approach to teaching and learning by academics new to the environment. Data on the process were collected using a survey questionnaire and as a result of informal discussions during the mentoring process.

The findings indicate an overall positive response to the process for both the mentor and the mentee and the achievement of the planned research outcomes.

The discussion in this paper outlines a framework and process that others may follow when mentoring academics entering a “new” educational experience.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and reflect on current assessment practice in a large undergraduate accounting programme delivered both in Australia and offshore, from the perspective of academics in their first semester at a “new‐to‐them” university.

The changing higher education environment and the reality of assessment in the current context are considered, as they raise a number of important issues around assessment practice. Some of the often cited literature linking teaching, learning and assessment, including student‐centred learning and Confucian heritage culture, is also discussed. A reflective approach is used where Säljö's five categories of student learning are used as the basis for informed reflection of the assessment used in the “new” academics' first semester at the university. The use of empirical evidence to test these reflections would be the next step in this scholarly approach to teaching and learning.

The reflections reveal a disparity between reality and the ideal in relation to assessment practice. Issues regarding timely feedback to students and timing of assessments can result in summative assessment when it has the potential to be formative. This paper has provided an opportunity for “new” academics to engage with the higher education literature early in their careers.

This paper is a resource for academics beginning to engage with the higher education literature around assessment, teaching and learning and can also be used to inform and improve the teaching and learning practices of many academics in higher education.