Leadership-in-teams, ready, willing and able: perspectives of international accounting students

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons why international accounting students in higher education in Australia do not accept leadership roles in academic teams, considering the importance employers attach to leadership and teamwork graduate attributes. Design/methodology/approach Adopting the Keating et al. (2014) ready, willing and able (RWA) leadership framework, this qualitative study uses a narrative textual approach to analyse the data from responses to open-ended questions recorded in interviews with a sample of Master of Professional Accounting (MPA) students (N = 12) undertaking leadership-in-team roles in a management and cost Accounting unit (N = 110) within an Australian higher education accounting program. Findings The results of this study suggest that a lack of past work experience disadvantages accounting students in being ‘ready’ to adopt leadership roles in teams. Self-interested behaviour results in students not being ‘willing’ to adopt leadership roles. Students perceive business simulation and work-integrated learning activities to hold the potential to improve their ‘ability’ to lead. Practical implications The study offers a conceptual schema for student leadership development, suggesting that accounting curricula in higher education should include the assessment of scaffolded leadership development activities. Mentorship roles in academic teams should also be explored. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first application of the RWA framework to explore accounting students’ predisposition to accepting leadership roles in teams. Informed by the student narrative, the authors offer a future focused RWA schema as a practical guide for educators to embed leadership development in the accounting curriculum.

Professional skills required by accountants for applying international financial reporting standards: implications from Indonesia

“…Skill refers to a set of proficiency that a person can acquire and maintain through constant practice and training (Yau and Sculli, 1990). A few studies have empirically identified the skills that are considered important for accountants’ professional careers and the extent to which accounting education programmes have contributed to developing these skills (De Lange et al , 2006; Kavanagh and Drennan, 2008; Jackling and De Lange, 2009; O’Connell et al , 2015; Samkin and Stainbank, 2016; Chaplin, 2017; Smith et al , 2018; Miller, 2020; Oosthuizen et al , 2021; Phan et al , 2021). De Lange et al (2006), for example, indicate that graduates consider communication skills, problem-solving and analytical skills and decision-making skills to be some of the most important generic skills for their career success.…”

“…Professional accounting bodies have called for a change in the way accountants are educated indicating that more emphasis needs to be given in the accounting curriculum to develop the relevant professional skills (O’Connell et al , 2015; Samkin and Stainbank, 2016). Oosthuizen et al (2021) also indicate that accounting educators need to develop leadership qualities in cohorts of accounting students so that they are being “ready” to adopt leadership roles. Their results show that international accounting students are not “willing” to adopt leadership roles.…”

Attributes of Business Administration Graduates from Stakeholder Perspectives: Case Study of Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus

“…Universities that failed to provide qualified and competent graduates will not achieve a competitive advantage, compared to those universities that can meet the needs of stakeholders (Oosthuizen et al, 2021). While business environment has changed over time and it affects the way business organizations are managed (Nudurupati et al, 2021), the challenge of a business administration curriculum is how to justify which attributes are most important to business administration graduates at the present time (Brauer, 2021).…”