Work Readiness of Accounting Vocational Education Students in Facing the Era of the Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 (Published)
Technological developments in Industrial Revolution Era 4.0 and Society 5.0 have brought significant changes in various sectors, including accounting. As a result, only professional accountants who have competence and skills can adapt to technological developments. This research is focused on assessing the work readiness of accounting vocational education students in preparing themselves for this era. The purpose of this research is to identify the level of work readiness of students at the Bali State Polytechnic Accounting Department and strategies to increase their work readiness. The variables measured are aspects of work readiness in professional skills according to International Education Standards 3 (IES 3). Research data were collected using a Likert scale questionnaire (1-5) and interviews. The number of samples taken were 144 students from 3 Study Programs. The results showed that Bali State Polytechnic accounting students were ready to face the Revolutionary Era of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 with an average score of 4.01. Where the highest work readiness is in the Organizational aspect with a score of 4.06, in the D4 Managerial Accounting study program with a score of 4.16, and Women with a score of 4.02. On the other hand, it was stated that his unpreparedness was mostly determined by the Self View factor, namely views on work and confidence in completing it with a percentage of 35.56%. To further improve the work readiness of accounting students, various strategies are suggested, such as: integrating information technology courses into the curriculum, expanding internships, providing training in public speaking, increasing collaboration between academics and industry professionals, and organizing international webinars. By implementing this strategy, the Bali State Polytechnic can ensure that its students are well prepared to face the Revolutionary Era of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0.
Keywords: Accounting Students, work readiness
PREPARING GLOBALLY MINDED ACCOUNTING GRADUATES THROUGH MODERN ACCOUNTING CURRICULUM (Published)
This paper focused on preparing globally minded accounting graduates through modern accounting curriculum. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested. The population of the study comprised six hundred and two (602) accounting lecturers and students selected from both private and public Universities in Nigeria of which three hundred and one (301) were purposively sampled. Structured questionnaire of 35 items was used as instrument for data collection. It was validated by three research experts and the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was used to establish the reliability of the instrument which yielded coefficient value of 0.91. The Mean of the responses with their standard deviation was used to answer the research questions. The student’s t-test statistic was used to test the three hypotheses at 0.05 level a significance, using Eview statistical software. The study reveals that modern techniques of the practice of accounting are not yet included into the accounting curriculum of the selected Universities in Nigeria. It also discovers that emphasis is heavily placed on paper qualification of the lecturers with little or no emphasis on the practical demonstration and ability of the lecturers to impact knowledge into the students. It also reveals that in order to enhance practical skills of accounting graduates, practical exposure of the students is important for them to be relevant in a global economy. The study recommends regular training and retraining of accounting lecturers on modern techniques of the practice of accounting to enhance contemporary knowledge of accounting graduates in the global market. Based on the findings and recommendations, the paper concludes that for the massive unemployment situation being experienced by accounting graduates in the developing countries to reduce, there is the urgent need to equip the graduates with relevant marketable skills that will make them relevant in the global labour market.
Keywords: Accounting Curriculum, Accounting Students, Nigeria Universities, Unemployment