HE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION ABOUT ACCOUNTING GRADUATES’ SKILLS

Abstract

The Agreement of AFTA that opens the chance for Accountant overseas to work in Indonesia becomes a threat for Indonesian accountant. This is due to the number and quality of accountant in Indonesia less than the other ASEAN countries. In addition, the unequal perception about accountant skills between students and employers also cause the lack of number and quality of accountant In Indonesia. This research uses mixed methods to examine perceptions and expectations of two major stakeholders: students and employers. The researcher surveys 80 accounting students of President University and 50 employers across a number of organizations and industries that employ accounting graduates. The result from quantitative data is students consider technical and functional skills as the most important skills for accounting graduates while the employers are expecting more in Intellectual skills. In addition, students reveal personal skills as the most progressive skills during learning process in President University. The result of this research may help the accounting study program of President University to gain more skills on students that employers seek as they design courses and class activities to produce a good quality graduates from President University. In addition, the researcher also suggest for future researcher to expand the samples of students and employers and group them based on industries to get more specific results.