Professional Accounting Education and Meta-Competency Development

This book examines the role of a Canadian professional accounting education program in the development of eight key generic skills, or meta-competencies (MCs): influencing and persuading, teamwork and relationship building, critical and analytical thinking, self and time management, leadership, ability to see the bigger picture, presentation, and communication. Four key findings emerged from the study. First, by building on prior research related to the identification and measurement of a university MC expectations gap, the study shows that the professional education program does appear to bridge the university graduate MC expectations gap for some MCs; however, professionals may overestimate their ability to see the bigger picture. Second, it was found that the most significant influences on the development of various MCs were demographic factors and learning environments. Third, the study showed that meta-level quality indicators linking education and employment, may not be robust enough to establish the same linkage to professional education and employment. Fourth, the study raises questions regarding the role and efficacy of professional education in MC development.