Integrating Sustainability in Accounting Curricular of Higher Education Institutions: Analyzing Universities in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

The effects of unsustainable actions persist, triggering and sustaining a discussion on strategies and controls required to mitigate the consequences. Greater disclosure is required by entities regarding the governance processes, strategies, and controls they employ to manage climate-related risks and opportunities, thereby creating an expanded role for accountants. With this expanded role, higher education institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in fostering and instilling sustainability values through the knowledge and skills they transfer to accounting students. HEIs must be assessed to ascertain if sustainability concepts are integrated into current accounting curricula, thereby addressing SDG 4, and SDG 12 which can be achieved through the knowledge these HEIs transfer. A contextual content analysis is carried out on the accounting curricula of 76 Nigerian universities to search for keywords related to sustainability. This study reveals a low level of integration; 16 of the 62 keywords were found in the curricula of 25 of the 76 universities studied. The results indicate the most frequently occurring keywords and the courses and universities associated with the most keywords. This study demonstrates that accounting education in Nigeria has not yet keyed into the program aimed at achieving the ‘Agenda’. This outcome underscores the need to review the existing accounting curricula to ensure that accounting education contributes to the movement towards sustainable development.