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ARA
18,1 The vocational skill priorities
of Malaysian and UK students
Trevor Hassall and John Joyce
20 Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University,
Sheffield, UK, and
José Luis Arquero Montaño and José Marı́a González González
Department of Accounting and Finance,
University of Seville, Seville, Spain

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, prioritise, and contrast the needs in terms of the
development of vocational skills in final year undergraduate accounting students from two distinct
countries. The study aims to survey and analyse the views of Malaysian and UK students.
Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was used to gather the data. Quantitative
analysis was then used as the basis of a comparative study. The data for this study were collected via
questionnaires completed by Malaysian exchange students on their arrival at UK university and the
students of that UK university.
Findings – The results indicate that both sets of students accept the need to develop vocational skills
in order to perform competently as an accountant. There is however clear differences in the views of the
Malaysian and UK students concerning the specific skills that they perceive as being priorities to be
developed. The students also hold differing views of the major barriers to the development of vocational
skills in higher education.
Originality/value – Previous studies have established the need to prioritise vocational skills
development. Studies have also established the views of employers and students. This study contrasts
the views of students from two contrasting contexts. The study establishes that students from differing
countries perceive differing priorities in terms of vocational skills not only between students but also
between students and the currently stated views of employers and professional bodies internationally.
Keywords Vocational training, Skills, Accounting education, Undergraduates, Malaysia,
United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper

Asian Review of Accounting
Vol. 18 No. 1, 2010
pp. 20-29
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1321-7348
DOI 10.1108/13217341011045980
Introduction
Globalisation and technology were identified by Albrecht and Sack (2000) as being
factors creating the need for change in accounting. They suggest that the changing
environment will require the profiles of financial managers to evolve so that they are
equipped to meet the challenges posed by the new contexts. The International
Federation of Accountants (IFAC, 2002) believes that the role of the finance manager is
shifting dramatically from a transaction manager to that of communicator and
strategist. In order to respond to the changing environment and to react to perceived
employers’ requirements, the specific needs of employers must be identified.
Professional and academic associations over a number of years, through published
reports and statements, have made public their views of the desired profile of a
professional accountant. This has resulted in increasing importance being given to a set
of non-accounting capabilities and skills. These capabilities and skills gained
prominence because they “enable the professional accountant to make successful use
of the knowledge gained through education” (IFAC, 1996, p. 16). The purpose of our Vocational
study is to prioritise, and contrast, the need for the specific development of vocational skill priorities
skills of final year undergraduate accounting students from two countries. The study
surveyed and analysed the views of Malaysian and UK students.

Literature review
The major changes in the direction and focus of accounting education over the last two 21
decades have been related to the move from a supply to a demand orientation. The
Bedford Report (American Accounting Association Committee on the Future, Content,
and Scope of Accounting Education, 1986) was an important catalyst. The report
identified a widening gap between what accountants do and what accounting educators
teach. It concluded that at that time most of the US professional accounting education
programs were not meeting the needs of an expanded profession. This was
substantiated by the Big Eight Report (Arthur Andersen and Co., 1989) which
reflected the views and opinions of the largest accounting firms on the educational
objectives for future professionals. A major focus of these reports was the relative
weightings given in accounting education programmes to technical accounting skills
and the vocational skills necessary to perform the tasks required of an accountant
in practice. The gap between the vocational skills desired by employers and those
actually exhibited by potential employees emerged as a major cause of concern. These
reports gave increasing relevance to a set of non-accounting capabilities and skills.
These skills came to be labelled as “essential” because they “enable the professional
accountant to make successful use of the knowledge gained through education” (IFAC,
1996, p. 16).
A more recent major report in this area (Albrecht and Sack, 2000) noted that there are
continuing criticisms of accounting programs by both employers and educators
themselves. Their report categorised the major problems perceived by employers into
six areas, one of the areas specifically identified was skill development. Albrecht and
Sack (2000, p. 55) stressed the importance of skill development because:
Students forget what they memorise. Content knowledge becomes dated and is often not
transferable across different types of jobs. On the other hand critical skills rarely become
obsolete and are usually transferable across assignments and careers.
In their study, Albrecht and Sack noted employers and educators were in substantial
agreement over the relative importance of specific vocational skills but they did not
prioritise the areas that need to be developed.
The skills deficit perspective has been criticized: although there is a high degree of
consensus in the opinions expressed in the published statements, some authors have
raised the possible existence of biases and hidden interests. Poe and Bushong (1991)
stated that the proposed curriculum resulting from the above statements is focused on
educating the auditing profession, specifically in the USA. Another criticism is that there
has been a focus on the development needs of auditors and little reference to the thoughts
and views of accountants who are primarily industry based and consequently may have
different development needs. A major US survey of management accounting by Siegel
and Sorenson (1999) noted the changing role of management accountants. Their survey
also asked employers to identify the most important knowledge, skills and abilities
necessary for success. These were: communication (oral written and presentation) skills,
ARA ability to work on a team, analytical skills, understanding of accounting and an
18,1 understanding of how a business functions. This indicates the importance of the balance
between technical knowledge and vocational skills in the development of management
accountants.
As stated earlier, Albrecht and Sack reported that employers and educators were in
substantial agreement over the relative importance of specific vocational skills. Other
22 research and official pronouncements had identified a taxonomy of vocational skills but
did not prioritise the areas that need to be developed. The studies did not reflect the
views of the individuals who are actually experiencing the process of the accounting
education and training, i.e. the students. Arquero et al. (2001) attempted to identify the
vocational skills development priorities for UK management accounting employers.
That study found that employers perceived deficiencies in several vocational skills
which they identified as being important in terms of professional capability. These
deficiencies existed, in the employers’ opinion both prior to recruitment and on
qualification (i.e. on the award of a professional accounting qualification). A further
study by Hassall et al. (2005) contrasted the vocational skills development priorities for
UK and Spanish management accounting employers. Both sets of employers clearly felt
that the development of vocation skills should be an explicit goal of higher education.
Despite their agreement on the overall importance of vocational skills, the study
identified specific differences in individual vocational skills priorities between the
English and Spanish employers.
The views of employers and students were contrasted in a study by Hassall et al. (2003).
This study indicated that employers and students recognize that it is important for
accountants to develop a range of vocational skills. The study indicated that there is broad
agreement between the employers and the students on the areas to prioritize. However,
differences were found in the specific priorities. Gonzalez et al. (2009) give a useful insight
into how higher education institutions have resisted the pressure to include vocational
skills in the curriculum.
This study contrasts the views of undergraduate students from the UK and Malaysia
in order to identify priorities for the development of vocational skills. The two groups of
undergraduate accounting students were both in the final year of their studies. The first
group consisted of full time Malaysian students attending the Tunku Abdul Rahman
College on exchange during their summer visit to a major university in England. The
second group of UK students attended the same major university in England.

Methodology
The data for this study were collected via a questionnaire administered to the two
different groups of accounting students. The data collection was anonymous. The first
section of the questionnaire gathered relevant personal data from the respondents. The
second section consisted of opinion-based questions. These questions were to be
answered on an 11-point scale (from 0-10). This section of the questionnaire contained
statements on broad curriculum policy aimed at gathering responses from the
respondents on attitudes to overall curriculum development in terms of direction, content,
responsibility and design. The questionnaire also contained a listing of 22 skills and
personal attributes that had been identified as being important by the previous research
in this area. The listing of vocational skills and capabilities is illustrated in Table AI in the
Appendix. The 22 attributes were arranged into five groups: communication (five items),
group (three), problem solving (four), pressure and time management (three), information Vocational
technology (two) and other skills (five). For each item the students were asked to skill priorities
indicate the importance of the skill, capability or knowledge topic for the adequate
performance of accounting duties by a qualified accountant. The students were then
asked to indicate the level of the skills exhibited by their fellow students. The final
section contained 12 statements representing potential limitations or constraints on the
development of vocational skills in the university context. Students were asked to rate 23
these as to their importance.

Results
Responses were collected from 133 Malaysian students and 107 UK students. The
percentage of female students in the sample was 65 and 49 percent, respectively, and in
both cases the average age of the population sampled was 23 years. An interesting
difference between the two samples was that the Malaysian students reported a higher
percentage (54 percent) that had substantive work experience before or during
university than the UK students (33 percent).
There was no statistically significant difference between the strong belief by both
sets of students that in order to successfully perform accounting duties qualified
accountants need more than just technical knowledge.
Table I illustrates some differences between the two sets of students. Malaysian
students have a weaker belief that universities should pay attention to workplace
requirements. However, they are strong in their belief, in comparison to UK students,
that universities actually do pay attention to workplace requirements. The Malaysian
students also appear more convinced that their degree is preparing them for the work
place, and that the professional bodies (as evidenced by their syllabi) pay attention to
workplace requirements.
There was no statistically significant difference between both sets of students’ strong
belief that when appointing personnel employers value vocational skills as much as
technical accounting knowledge (Table II). There was however some differences between
their beliefs on how vocational skills should be developed. The Malaysian students
perceive a greater opportunity cost in terms of less time to develop technical skills if
vocational skills are developed during accounting classes. Also Malaysian students are
stronger in their belief that it is possible to develop vocational skills simultaneously with
technical accounting. Malaysian students believe that vocational skill should be
integrated into all subjects in the accounting curriculum more strongly than their UK

UK Malaysian t-test
mean mean significance

When designing syllabuses universities should pay

attention to workplace requirements 8.72 8.19 0.020
When designing syllabuses universities do pay attention to
workplace requirements 5.99 7.27 0.000
Professional bodies when designing syllabuses do pay
attention to work place requirements 5.95 7.41 0.000 Table I.
The degree that I am doing will prepare me for the real Views on vocational
world of work 6.09 7.56 0.000 skills
ARA
UK Malaysian t-test
18,1 mean mean significance

The development of vocational skills during accounting classes

is at the cost of time that could be used for technical accounting 3.95 6.08 0.000
By using certain teaching methods it is possible to develop
24 vocational skills simultaneously with technical accounting 7.36 7.75 0.000
The development of vocational skills should be integrated into
all subjects in the accounting curriculum 7.23 7.77 0.039
Table II. Skills development is better achieved by additional specific units
Views on the within the curriculum 6.21 7.00 0.020
development of I think the development of vocational skills should have started
vocational skills at secondary school 7.28 8.14 0.000

counterparts and that this could also be better achieved by additional specific units within
the curriculum. Both sets of students strongly agree (the Malaysian students more
strongly), that the development of vocational skills should be started at secondary school.
In terms of individual skills, differences emerge between the two groups of students.
Table III shows the rankings given by the two groups of students in terms of the
importance of the selected individual skills.
The Appendix, Table AII shows the complete data set.
Whilst there are some overlaps there is a striking difference between the first ranked
skill as identified by the two sets of students. For Malaysian students this concerns the
need to be committed to life long learning. For UK students this skill was ranked
nineteenth: a considerable difference! The UK students ranked a time management skill
first. In a broader view, there is clear agreement between the two sets of students in terms
of the importance of time management skills. There is also general agreement
concerning the importance of the two specific skills, work with others in teams adopting
a relevant role and identify and solve unstructured problems.
It is interesting to contrast this with the skills that were considered least important by
the two sets of students as shown by Table III. There is agreement on the relative
unimportance of the skill of using of visual aids in making presentations. The UK
students lowest rated skill in terms of importance is the ability to critically read written

UK Malaysia

Have a commitment to life long learning 19 1

Organise the workloads to select and assign priorities within time constraints 3 2
Work with others in teams adopting a relevant role 5 3
Identify and solve unstructured problems 8 4
Organise the workloads to recognise and meet tight, strict, and coinciding deadlines 1 5
Use relevant software 10 18
Knowledge of information sources 20 19
Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work verbally to
colleagues, clients, and superiors 14 20
Table III. Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work in writing to
Ranking of importance of colleagues, clients, and superiors 11 21
individual skills Use visual aids in presentations 21 22
works, making judgements on their relevance and value. The Malaysian students Vocational
indicate that they view oral and written presentation skills below IT skills in terms of skill priorities
relative unimportance. This does not map against the UK students opinion who
correspondingly rate very low in importance two items from the category “Other skills,
values and knowledge” (have a commitment to life long learning, and the ability to
develop methods of effective learning).
When the students were asked to rank their peers performance in individual skills 25
there was a large amount of agreement in the relative rankings of the two sets of students
as illustrated in Table IV.
Within the categories of “IT” and “group work skills”, the first three ranked skills are
identical. The ability of the two sets of students to manage their time is also relatively
similarly highly ranked. Of concern is the joint recognition of poor levels of performance
in both oral and written communication skills. The students also share relatively low
peer performance ratings for having a comprehensive and global vision of the
organisation and an awareness of social and ethical responsibilities.
There are differing views between Malaysian and UK students as to the relative
importance of factors causing limitations or constraints on the development of
vocational skills in a university context as shown in Table V.
There is some agreement that traditional methods of assessment lack the ability to
simulate real world situations and are therefore seen as a major constraint by both sets of
students. The Malaysian students then blame themselves for their resistance and inertia
to changes in teaching methods. This contrasts markedly with the views of the UK

UK Malaysia

Use relevant software 1 1

Knowledge of information sources 2 2
Work with others in teams adopting a relevant role 3 3
Organise the workloads to select and assign priorities within time constraints 6 4
Organise and delegate tasks 8 5
Awareness of social and ethical responsibilities 19 18
Perform critical analysis 18 19
Have a comprehensive and global vision of the organisation 22 20
Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work in writing to Table IV.
colleagues, clients, and superiors 16 21 Ranking of peer
Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work verbally to performance in individual
colleagues, clients, and superiors 20 22 skills

UK Malaysia
Table V.
Traditional methods of assessment (lack of ability to simulate real world situations) 2 1 Ranking of the potential
Resistance and inertia of students to changes in teaching methods 9 2 limitations and
Reluctance of lecturers to change their teaching methods ¼5 3 constraints on the
Lack of educational development/training for university accounting lecturers 7 4 development of
Lack of effective collaborative partnerships between universities and external vocational skills in a
organisations ¼5 5 university context
ARA students who see poor quality lecturers as a major factor. There is some agreement on
18,1 the resistance by lecturers to change their teaching methods and a lack of effective
collaborative partnerships between universities and external organisations.

Discussion and conclusion

26 The results of this study confirm that in the view of accounting students there is a need to
incorporate a wider set of vocational skills into the accounting curriculum. The objective
of this study was to establish if there were differences in this overall view and in the
subsequent detailed development needs between accounting students from different
countries. This study compared the views from students whose accounting career
development have been in the differing economies of Europe and Asia. Globalisation
may be an overarching factor in creating the changes necessary in accounting and
accounting education. However, the purpose of the research was to identify if there were
different attitudes towards these proposed changes from students from differing
geographical locations.
There is strong agreement by the students from Malaysia and the UK that there is a
necessity to develop and maintain a wider set of vocational skills alongside technical
competence in order to become a competent accountant. However, there is a level of
disagreement in terms of their beliefs concerning how vocational skills should be
developed, the importance and current performance levels of specific individual skills
and in the limitations and constraints forming a barrier to the future development of
these skills in a university context.
Whilst both sets of students are clear that vocational skills development at university
level is necessary, UK students are statistically stronger in their belief that this should be
so. There is a stronger belief by Malaysian students that university and professional
education are committed to the development of vocational skills that employers require.
Malaysian students are more concerned than their UK counterparts about of the
opportunity cost of developing vocational skills in terms of time lost in developing
technical accounting abilities. They accept more readily than the UK students that the
use of certain teaching methods could enable the simultaneous development of
vocational skills with technical accounting. However, both sets of students acknowledge
the need for specific units within the curriculum. An interesting finding is the agreement
of students for the need to start the development of vocational skills at secondary school.
The ranking of specific individual vocational skills in terms of importance identifies a
major difference between Malaysian and UK students in terms of their commitment to
lifelong learning. Given the introduction of continuous professional development as a
requirement for the accounting profession this difference is unusual and needs further
investigation. Subsequent to this, in broad terms, there is clear agreement between the two
sets of students in terms of the importance of time management skills. Both sets of
students also rate their performance in this skill set as reasonably high. This appears to be
in direct contrast to employer and professional body pronouncements that have indicated
the importance of good communication skills for the future of the accounting profession. In
terms of both importance and perceived performance, written and verbal communication
skills are rated low by both Malaysian and UK students. In contrast to this IT skills are
rated as of low importance by both sets of students but both sets rank themselves as
performing well in these skills. Given recent events in accounting and finance the
relatively low importance rating and the low performance rating given to the development Vocational
of awareness of social and ethical responsibilities must be a serious concern. skill priorities
There is a clear social or cultural difference in terms of the students’ attitudes to the
limitations and constraints on the development of vocational skills in a university
environment. There is an agreed realisation that current assessment methods are a
major barrier to the future development of vocational skills. Malaysian students seem
more willing to accept the responsibility for the failure to develop vocational skills than 27
their UK counterparts. The UK students perceive large class sizes as by far the most
important barrier followed by the poor quality of the lecturers themselves and the lack of
funding for universities.
The study identifies differences in the beliefs of Malaysian and UK students
concerning how vocational skills should be developed, the importance and current
performance levels of specific individual skills and in the limitations and constraints
forming a barrier to the future development of these skills in a university context. There
are also apparent differences in several major areas such as communication skills and
social and ethical responsibilities between students and the current stated views of
employers and professional bodies internationally. Having been identified, these
differences now need to be the subject of further research to try to understand the factors
that give rise to these differences. The accounting profession globally cannot expect to
implement a uniform scheme for the development of the profession based on a view of
vocational skills that has inconsistencies between their views and those of their
students, and inconsistencies between the views of differing groups of students.

References
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a Perilous Future, Accounting Education Series, Vol. 16, American Accounting
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Education (1986), “Future of accounting education: preparation for the expanding
profession”, Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 169-95.
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the accounting professional profile: The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
(CIMA) employers opinion”, Accounting Education: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 3,
pp. 299-313.
Arthur Andersen and Co. (1989), Perspectives on Education: Capabilities for Success in the
Accounting Profession, Arthur Andersen and Co., New York, NY.
Gonzalez Gonzalez, J.M., Arquero Montaño, J.L. and Hassall, T. (2009), “Pressures and resistance
to the introduction of skills in business administration and accounting education in Spain:
a new institutional theory analysis”, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, Vol. 61
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gap for management accountants: the stakeholders perspectives”, Innovations in
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development of vocational skills in management accountants: a European perspective”,
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of Management Accounting, IMA, Montvale, NJ.

Appendix

Communication skills
C1 Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work, in
writing, to colleagues, clients, and superiors
C2 Present and defend points of view and outcomes of their own work,
verbally, to colleagues, clients, and superiors
C3 Use of visual aids in presentations
C4 Listen effectively to gain information and to understand opposing
points of view
C5 Critically read written works, making judgments on their relevance
and value
Group working skills
G1 Work with others in teams
G2 Organise and delegate tasks
G3 Assume leadership positions when necessary
Problem-solving skills
P1 Identify and solve unstructured problems
P2 Find creative solutions
P3 Integrate multidisciplinary knowledge to solve problems
P4 Perform critical analysis
Time management
T1 Organise the workloads to meet conflicting demands and unexpected
requirements
T2 Organise the workloads to recognise and meet tight, strict, and
coinciding deadlines
T3 Select and assign priorities within coincident workloads
Information technology
I1 Use relevant software
I2 Knowledge of information sources
Other skills, values and knowledge
O1 Have a commitment to life-long learning
Table AI. O2 Ability to develop methods of effective learning
Vocational skills and O3 Awareness of social and ethical responsibilities
capabilities desired in O4 Have knowledge of the accounting profession
qualified accountants O5 Have a comprehensive and global vision of the organisation
 Vocational
shu_ MLY_ Sig. of shu_ MLY_ Sig. of
imp imp dif. lev lev dif. skill priorities
Communication skills
C1 Present and defend points of view and outcomes
of their own work, in writing, to colleagues,
clients, and superiors 8.55 8.35 ns 6.16 6.52 0.085 29
C2 Present and defend points of view and outcomes
of their own work, verbally, to colleagues,
clients, and superiors 8.50 8.50 ns 6.03 6.48 0.028
C3 Use of visual aids in presentations 7.98 8.00 ns 6.83 7.31 ns
C4 Listen effectively to gain information and to
understand opposing points of view 8.62 8.64 0.001 6.55 7.19 0.002
C5 Critically read written works, making
judgments on their relevance and value 7.93 8.56 ns 6.27 6.73 0.038
Group working skills
G1 Work with others in teams 8.77 8.84 ns 6.85 7.52 0.001
G2 Organise and delegate tasks 8.69 8.76 ns 6.57 7.35 0.000
G3 Assume leadership positions when necessary 8.51 8.68 ns 6.28 7.24 0.000
Problem-solving skills
P1 Identify and solve unstructured problems 8.63 8.84 ns 6.63 6.97 0.085
P2 Find creative solutions 8.24 8.56 ns 6.16 6.72 0.012
P3 Integrate multidisciplinary knowledge to solve
problems 8.48 8.60 ns 6.02 6.71 0.001
P4 Perform critical analysis 8.67 8.65 ns 6.14 6.64 0.022
Time management
T1 Organise the workloads to meet conflicting
demands and unexpected requirements 9 8.64 0.016 6.23 6.76 0.027
T2 Organise the workloads to recognise and meet
tight, strict, and coinciding deadlines 9.16 8.82 0.020 6.69 7.18 0.035
T3 Select and assign priorities within coincident
workloads 8.96 8.93 ns 6.64 7.45 0.000
Information technology
I1 Use relevant software 8.62 8.51 ns 7.77 7.88 ns
I2 Knowledge of information sources 7.99 8.51 0.005 7.21 7.74 0.014
Other skills, values and knowledge
O1 Have a commitment to life-long learning 8.08 8.95 0.000 6.19 7.06 0.000
O2 Ability to develop methods of effective learning 8.09 8.63 0.000 6.37 6.92 0.016
O3 Awareness of social and ethical responsibilities 8.36 8.67 ns 6.06 6.70 0.010
O4 Have knowledge of the accounting profession 8.80 8.78 6.3 6.30 7.14 0.000
O5 Have a comprehensive and global vision of the
organisation 8.51 8.69 5.86 5.86 6.59 0.002 Table AII.

Corresponding author
Trevor Hassall can be contacted at: t.hassall@shu.ac.uk

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