SUSTAINABILITY OF BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING EDUCATION IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Authors: Zabihollah Rezaee*, PhD & Kenneth Lambert, PhD

ABSTRACT

Sustainability of business and accounting education has been affected by three recent events examined in this paper. First, the world was dramatically impacted in 2020 by what is known as the global COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the content and delivery of accounting and business education. Second, advances in technology are forcing additional changes in the day-to-day operations of many businesses and, thus, require changes in accounting and business education. These developments in technology, both hardware and software, are rapidly changing the tasks that accountants and other employees perform for their employers and technological skills demanded of accounting graduates. Third, business sustainability developments and initiatives affect all business activities and thus business and accounting education. In turn, the educational preparation of new employees who enter the current-day business world must be adapted to the current business environment if it is to be relevant and sustainable in the future. This paper examines some of the issues brought on by COVID-19, technological advances, and business sustainability initiatives that business colleges and accounting schools must address in their quest for continued educational relevance and sustainability. The emerging educational requirements are broadly organized in this paper as analytical skills, business sustainability education, COVID-19 pandemic modifications, soft skills, and technical skills.

Keywords: Accounting and business curricula; COVID-19 pandemic; Analytical skills; Technical skills; Soft skills; Business Sustainability

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