Abstract

MHLONGO, Favourite. Pervasive skills and accounting graduates' employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?. Journal of Education [online]. 2020, n.80, pp.49-71. ISSN 2520-9868.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i80a03.

In response to the pressures of globalisation and information technology, accounting practitioners are generally expected to demonstrate greater capacity in pervasive or generic skills. Universities offering accounting programmes in South Africa have revised accounting degree curricula to provide an added focus on pervasive skills. However, it remains unclear whether such interventions strengthen the position of accounting graduates in the job-seeking process, nor is it clear which of the many possible pervasive skills are relevant for employers. Through content analysis of online advertised accounting vacancies, this quantitative study sought to investigate whether employers do call for pervasive skills when recruiting accounting graduates and, if so, which of these skills are most sought after. The findings indicate that, indeed, employers generally specified pervasive skills, and that oral and written communication and critical thinking were the most sought-after of these skills for accounting-related employment in South Africa.

Keywords : pervasive skills; work-readiness; accounting education; professional skills; graduate employability.

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