Designing Innovative Pedagogy for Complex Accountancy Topics (DIPCAT)
Third Party Funds Group - Sub project
Acronym: DIPCAT
Start date : 01.09.2018
End date : 31.08.2021
Overall project details
Overall project
Designing Innovative Pedagogy for Complex Accountancy Topics
Project details
Short description
Short description
Context and objectives of the project and the needs addressed:
The digital economy is growing much faster than the rest of the economy, but this potential is currently held back by a shortage of skilled graduates. Open vacancies for ICT practitioners cannot be filled, despite the high level of unemployment in Europe. The project will help to close this gap (shortage of up to 900 000 ICT professionals by 2020).
The overall objective of the project is address a gap in Higher Education by creating an internationally-oriented learning platform in accountancy that facilitates current essential hard and soft skill development for early career professionals.
Graduates planning to work in specialist areas of accountancy require specific competencies. They must develop sound subject-specialist knowledge, professional skills, and professional values, ethics and attitudes during their studies (IAESB, 2015). Such competence cannot be acquired through a didactic concept which involves only traditional lectures, seminars and modes of assessment.
We aim to develop a teaching concept that facilitates the development of all competencies to meet the current and future demands in the Profession and significantly enhance the employability of engaged students. The technological changes in the profession require graduates to be more digitally competent, commercially and internationally aware, analytical and resilient. The teaching concept will to take the changing environment into account. Working as an accountancy professional requires interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving skills, as well as understanding accountancy in different cultures and legislations.
Partners’ contacts in accounting firms and finance departments of corporations (groups) will be consulted during the project for subject-specific assistance. The applicant and the other partners have close contacts within the Big Four, MNEs and the Professional and Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (e.g. ICAEW, ACCS, CIMA) in the respective countries. This will ensure the professional relevance and practical application of the learning material which will in turn enhance student experience.
Why this project should be done transnationally:
Employability of students and success of their career progression are increasing dependent upon their competencies and skills enabling to work in MNEs, their national branches, to recognize and be able to make business decisions in the diverse economic and legal environments. The international network of 10 universities, participating in this project, will be able to bring specific multidisciplinary expertise from home countries and to enable students, participating in the project to learn from peers. The learning materials and methodlogies developed will be based on results of comparative study of recent multi-country experiences in accounting, taxation, digitalization, CSR reporting issues, and will enable broader European academic and professional audiences to benefit from them.
Student that have engaged in our transnational projects in the past are our most important advocates of the cross-cultural experience of our Intensive Study Programmes. There is an active AFECA alumni as students quickly recognized (1) the importance of networking, (2) the unique opportunity of our ISPs and (3) life-long friendships had naturally developed. We are very proud that three of our supporting partners are AFECA ISP alumni (Professor Laszlo Lakatos of Hungary, Jorg Herring of Germany, and Dr Marco Haid of Austria).
The Partners of this project have a long history of working together in the development of teaching materials, intensive study programmes, student and staff exchanges, research and other knowledge exchange. The combined subject expertise, and the dedication and enthusiasm in academia of the partners far exceeds the sum of their individual contributions. The richness of past projects that have been developed during the association spanning more than two decades are a testament to the benefit of the extended global network. What we are able to harness through our extended, multi-national network mimic the scenarios and complex issues MNEs face today.
Scientific Abstract
Context and objectives of the project and the needs addressed:
The digital economy is growing much faster than the rest of the economy, but this potential is currently held back by a shortage of skilled graduates. Open vacancies for ICT practitioners cannot be filled, despite the high level of unemployment in Europe. The project will help to close this gap (shortage of up to 900 000 ICT professionals by 2020).
The overall objective of the project is address a gap in Higher Education by creating an internationally-oriented learning platform in accountancy that facilitates current essential hard and soft skill development for early career professionals.
Graduates planning to work in specialist areas of accountancy require specific competencies. They must develop sound subject-specialist knowledge, professional skills, and professional values, ethics and attitudes during their studies (IAESB, 2015). Such competence cannot be acquired through a didactic concept which involves only traditional lectures, seminars and modes of assessment.
We aim to develop a teaching concept that facilitates the development of all competencies to meet the current and future demands in the Profession and significantly enhance the employability of engaged students. The technological changes in the profession require graduates to be more digitally competent, commercially and internationally aware, analytical and resilient. The teaching concept will to take the changing environment into account. Working as an accountancy professional requires interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving skills, as well as understanding accountancy in different cultures and legislations.
Partners’ contacts in accounting firms and finance departments of corporations (groups) will be consulted during the project for subject-specific assistance. The applicant and the other partners have close contacts within the Big Four, MNEs and the Professional and Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (e.g. ICAEW, ACCS, CIMA) in the respective countries. This will ensure the professional relevance and practical application of the learning material which will in turn enhance student experience.
Why this project should be done transnationally:
Employability of students and success of their career progression are increasing dependent upon their competencies and skills enabling to work in MNEs, their national branches, to recognize and be able to make business decisions in the diverse economic and legal environments. The international network of 10 universities, participating in this project, will be able to bring specific multidisciplinary expertise from home countries and to enable students, participating in the project to learn from peers. The learning materials and methodlogies developed will be based on results of comparative study of recent multi-country experiences in accounting, taxation, digitalization, CSR reporting issues, and will enable broader European academic and professional audiences to benefit from them.
Student that have engaged in our transnational projects in the past are our most important advocates of the cross-cultural experience of our Intensive Study Programmes. There is an active AFECA alumni as students quickly recognized (1) the importance of networking, (2) the unique opportunity of our ISPs and (3) life-long friendships had naturally developed. We are very proud that three of our supporting partners are AFECA ISP alumni (Professor Laszlo Lakatos of Hungary, Jorg Herring of Germany, and Dr Marco Haid of Austria).
The Partners of this project have a long history of working together in the development of teaching materials, intensive study programmes, student and staff exchanges, research and other knowledge exchange. The combined subject expertise, and the dedication and enthusiasm in academia of the partners far exceeds the sum of their individual contributions. The richness of past projects that have been developed during the association spanning more than two decades are a testament to the benefit of the extended global network. What we are able to harness through our extended, multi-national network mimic the scenarios and complex issues MNEs face today.
