Identifying Effective Factors in Accounting Education that Meet Labor Market Needs
Keywords:
labor market needs, accounting labor market , Accounting educationAbstract
This study aims to identify and explain the key factors influencing undergraduate accounting education to align it with the evolving requirements of the labor market. The research is applied in purpose and exploratory in nature, using a mixed-methods design. Data were collected through both library studies and fieldwork. In the qualitative phase, 16 academic and professional experts with over ten years of experience were selected via purposive and snowball sampling, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. For content validity, the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was applied, and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) along with MICMAC analysis was used to identify and hierarchically classify the relationships among factors. Thirteen key factors emerged, structured across four levels. The first (most dependent) level comprised “strong theoretical knowledge, professional abilities, practical applied skills, and professional ethics.” The second level included “mandatory internships, collaboration with professional accountants, and joint industry projects.” The third level featured “communication skills, teamwork, and critical thinking & problem solving.” The fourth (most influential) level encompassed “curriculum updating, increasing practical course hours, and introducing new courses.” MICMAC analysis revealed the distribution of these factors across independent, linkage, and dependent clusters, highlighting their varying degrees of influence and dependence. Improving the alignment of accounting education with labor market needs requires continuous curriculum updates, expansion of practical training, stronger university–industry collaboration, and integration of soft skills development into academic programs. This approach enhances graduates’ employability, strengthens financial transparency, and meets the dynamic demands of today’s professional accounting environment.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Behrouz Karimi (Author); Hojjatallah Salari (Corresponding author); Mohammad Hossein Ranjbar, Mahnoosh Abedini (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
