Pages 78-89

Nagwa Mohamed Bahreldin Abubaker

^aCollege of Business Administration at Northern Border University in Arar, Saudi Arabia, nagwa.abubaker@nbu.edu.sa

Abstract

The study aims to assess the extent to which accounting education in Saudi public universities contributes to the development of students’ professional skills in accordance with the requirements of the International Accounting Education Standard 3 (IES3). A descriptive and analytical approach was employed in this study. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data from the faculty members of the accounting department of Saudi Public University. The findings of the study contribute to developing students’ professional skills in accordance with the requirements of the International Accounting Education Standard 3, and show a strong positive correlation of accounting education with improvement in the professional competency of students. Furthermore, the findings reveal mediators of intellectual skills, technical and functional skills, personal skills, organisational skills and communication skills in this relationship. Such findings highlight the role of an integrated educational model that covers both technical content and soft skills necessary for the development of accountants’ employability and professional suitability. The study has a number of recommendations, the most important of which are continuing to support and develop accounting education in Saudi public universities to provide students with academic and professional skills by the requirements of the International Accounting Education Standard 3 and encouraging scientific research that deals with the application of the requirements of the International Accounting Education Standard 3 in accounting education curricula in universities.

Keywords: accounting education, professional skills, International Accounting Education Standard 3 (IES3), accounting
curriculum, accounting profession

JEL Classification: M41, M53, J24