6. Conclusions and comments
The objectives of this study are to investigate the readiness of Thai accounting student for the IES, to test for differences between groups in their readiness for the IES, and to test for correlations between the readiness for the IES and the Thai accounting student’s competencies. The findings indicate that even though the total average scores of the students’ competencies are at a medium level, the competencies of attitudes, values, and ethics are at a high level. On the other hand, the participating Thai accounting students have a medium level of readiness for the IES. Moreover, there are significant differences between participants from different educational institutions, and also base on their awareness of the IES. Finally, the readiness of the participating Thai accounting students for the IES is significantly affected by the student’s knowledge, attitudes, and ethical competencies.
This study provides some contribution to knowledge in this field. For example, the study indicates the situation of Thai accounting education with regard to the international accounting education standards such as the IES, and also what Thai accounting students’ competencies, as defined in the IES are. Therefore, the Thai educational organizations such as the Ministry of Education, universities, and faculties of accounting within those universities will have more knowledge of the direction they should take to improve and develop their students’ competencies, how to aid the development of competitive advantage in the accounting field and how to remedy their weaknesses. Moreover, the results of this study results shed some light on accounting education research not only in Thailand but also in other AEC member countries.
However, some limitations must be mentioned regarding this study. For example, there may be other factors influencing the readiness of accounting professionals for the IES which were not included in this study. Further, the sample used limits the generalizability of this study because there are more than 100 universities in Thailand but this study used only seven universities in the South of Thailand. However, this limitation arises because there are only seven universities in that area having accounting departments. The study does not compare its results with research from other AEC member countries because only after 2015 will all accounting professionals in AEC member counties use the same accounting education standards. However, in future studies, comparisons between AEC countries in terms of the new accounting standards such as the IFRS or the IES should be investigated.
7. Acknowledgement
Author would like to thank Faculty of Management Sciences, Prince of Songkla University for financial supports on 4th International Conference on Technology and Operations Management. Special thanks Assistant Professor Patricia Stanton, the University of Newcastle, Australia, for opening the research gate.