Research and discussion about generic skills in higher education generally, and in accounting education specifically, have been reported in the literature for many
decades. In the environment of increasing accountability that exists in higher education, various stakeholders have voiced concerns about accounting graduates who lack many
of the generic skills/competencies/attributes necessary for employment entering the workforce. As a vocational discipline, accounting has not been spared and those involved in accounting education have often been criticised for failing to provide opportunities for accounting students to develop these important skills. The papers that are published in this themed issue address some of these criticisms and provide evidence of changes in approach to the development of generic skills in the accounting curriculum.