University Accounting Education in Hong Kong

The broad purposes of this study are to determine: (a) whether university accounting education in Hong Kong should observe the AECC initiatives from the perspectives of the practitioners, the accounting educators and the profession, as well as the factors affecting implementation, ie. emphasis on teaching versus research, faculty mix and implementation of the 150-semester hour accounting degree programme; and (b) how might other factors, ie. those pertaining to (i) the environment, (ii) employers’ perceptions and expectations, and (iii) accounting academics’ responses to views from the big-four firms, affect accounting education. The overall conclusions are two-fold: (a) AECC initiatives should and can be adopted in Hong Kong, subject to achieving a proper balance between teaching and research at public institutions, etc., and (b) university accounting education can be affected by: (i) the business and educational environment, (ii) expectations of employers with an emphasis on generic over technical skills, and (iii) universities’ ability, with some limitations, to work out viable solutions for skills enhancements in response to practitioners’ expectations.