‘It’s common sense, not rocket science.’ Some thirty years ago this was a favourite remark of my training manager. It was usually directed at a colleague who had completed a PhD in aerospace engineering prior to launching his career in accountancy.

My former colleague would not have been out of place today. The Professional Oversight Board in its 2008 review of the accountancy profession was pleased to report that, ‘Student numbers of the professional bodies continue to grow reflecting the health of the profession and the continued attraction for students’.

The report shows that a high number of graduates are entering the profession, but what is striking is that the number of graduates who hold a relevant degree is declining.

Generalist or specialist degree

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates that over the last five years the number of undergraduates has grown by approximately 2% per annum.

Business and Administration as a subject area has not fared quite so well, the increase is less than 1%. Within this the general business studies degree has declined in popularity, while the number of students taking specialist subject degrees in accounting, finance, management and marketing has increased.

A review of careers discussion boards on the web highlights that the main motivation of students choosing an accounting degree is the potential to gain exemptions from the professional bodies’ examinations, giving them a fast track to a career. However, one sage-like student offered the advice of, ‘Do a degree in something you like, not something that you’ll have to do for the rest of your life’. Another suggested that doing something other than accounting would enable a graduate to bring a different perspective to the work place.

Sound advice indeed as a report by the Financial Services Sector Skills Council (FS-SSC) on graduate recruitment identified that, ‘Whilst employers often seem to bemoan the lack of relevant skills, they continue to hire generalist graduates. Specialisation is a trend on the supply side at undergraduate level, but demand is greatest for generalists.’

Changing landscape

Changes in the landscape of HE in Britain since the 1990s have also contributed to the focus of degree programmes on offer. The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 created ‘new’ universities whose roots are based in the former technical colleges and tend to be more ‘teaching-led’ as opposed to ‘research-led’.

Students are becoming more focused on the contribution of HE to their careers following the introduction of differentiated fees in the Higher Education Act 2004. The Leitch Report, ‘Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills’ published in December 2006, set a target of more than four in ten adults being educated to degree level by 2020.

The skills debate

There has been an ongoing debate in the higher education press for several years concerning the role of universities in employment.

Last year the Times Higher Education reported on the debate over where the line should be drawn between the generic skills that degrees have always provided, such as communications and problem-solving, and more specific training for employment.
Professor John Brookes, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University commented,

‘There’s an interface between where [universities] provide education and where employers provide training’.

The biggest problem is gaining agreement on what skills universities can provide and what skills employers, or the accountancy profession want from its graduate entrants. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) must ensure that their programmes comply with the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ).

The International Federation of Accountants has also set out in its i nternational education standards the professional skills required by accountants. However, in a brief survey of professional firms’ recruitment criteria the interpersonal and ‘softer’ skills are
valued highly.

Forging Links

Despite the trend to recruit from a generalist background there is strong evidence that the profession is taking positive steps to ensure that it gains the skills it wants.

PricewaterhouseCoopers have linked with Newcastle University and the ICAEW to offer a BA (Hons) Business Accounting and Finance. Similarly Ernst & Young have partnered with Lancaster University Management School and the ICAS.

Universities are increasingly linking programmes to professional qualifications and offering students the potential to gain exemptions from the professional examinations.

New formats and providers are adding to the diversity within the HE sector. Staffordshire University has recently launched a two year BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance. Providers from the private sector such as BPP College of Professional Studies are strongly placed to offer professionally orientated degree programmes.

Communication and dialogue

Mr Rammell, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education told the Times Higher Education that it’s ‘about clear channels of communications between employers and universities’.

There is plenty of dialogue between professional bodies and the HE sector. However, there is a danger that if universities do the job of the professional bodies, degree programmes will become more akin to professional courses and lose the distinctive sense of graduate-ness of which the British HE sector is so proud.

If the graduates are to bring the necessary skills to the workplace it is important that the profession continues to work with the HE sector. The current evidence suggests that the education of the future entrants to the profession will continue to produce a supply of strong candidates.

Graham Pitcher is an independent consultant in professional and higher education and former dean of BPP Business School