Sharma, Garima (2020) Influence of culture and self-efficacy on soft skills development of undergraduate accounting students in India. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Although soft skills are in high demand by employers globally, the development of these skills in the context of accounting students in a multicultural social environment has been hindered by factors related to culture and self-efficacy. This is a pioneering study in accounting education that investigates the influence of both culture and self-efficacy on accounting students’ soft skills development. Prior cross-cultural studies have investigated the impact of culture on the self-efficacy of students and its effects on soft skills development mainly in developed countries with a limited number of studies in developing countries. Given its significance, this study will investigate the influence of culture and self-efficacy on the development of accounting students’ soft skills in India. Soft skills are assessed using the five-factor model represented by the personality traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and intellect. Each of the personality traits has been linked to a specific soft skill of Indian students and has not been recognised in the accounting discipline in prior studies. Cultural values were measured using Hofstede’s (1994) cultural dimension model. A separate measure of self-efficacy was conducted to determine its effects on soft skills using the general self-efficacy scale by Jerusalem and Schwarzer (1995). Data was collected from four culturally diverse regions in India. A total of 1162 questionnaires were distributed, of which 572 completed responses were received, resulting in a response rate of 49.2%. A multiple regression was used to examine the influence of culture and self-efficacy on personality traits. Three control variables – schooling type, gender and work experience – were introduced to eliminate their impact. A total of five models were created with each of the personality traits. In addition, an ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to account for the differences in accounting students from different regions in India in terms of their cultural dimensions, self-efficacy beliefs and personality traits. Although the findings indicate that both culture and self-efficacy in accounting students’ soft skills development was significant, its impact was very low. The study found that uncertainty avoidance was the most correlated cultural dimension after individualism and masculinity; whereas power distance and long-term orientation were insignificant. Similarly, self-efficacy was significant in three of the five models. This study suggests that soft skills development is a combination of various underlying factors of culture and self-efficacy. This study provides some beneficial recommendations to various stakeholders, such as educational institutions, employers’ professional bodies and policymakers, in supporting the development of soft skills in students. These include making a professional year program mandatory in undergraduate accounting studies. This will help students develop closer links with the industry and equip them with the soft skills necessary to become professional accountants. This research shows that all accounting stakeholders need to work collaboratively to contextualise the current curriculum to respond to changing industry requirements. Investment in such approaches ultimately reduces the expectation gap that will enhance the employability of Indian students.

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