Accounting education: an analysis of trends in the literature

Purpose There is limited understanding to date of the scope of research around accounting education. The purpose of this paper is to adumbrate and take stock of the key topics of interest and most influential authors in these fields during this period. In doing so, this paper identifies the emerging trends. Design/methodology/approach This study analyses 1,440 articles in accounting education to establish the key contributions made in accounting education from 1960 to 2023 across 262 accounting and business education-related journals. The authors use the method of keyword co-occurrence analysis, resulting in 11 topic clusters that represent shared connections between research topics. The authors triangulate this analysis using NVivo, VOSviewer and Kumu. Findings Accounting Education journal publishes the most, while David Stout is the most cited author. Emerging topics and trends relate to instructional and student factors influencing academic performance, the skills students develop and innovations and changes to the accounting curriculum. A range of employability skills, including ethical reasoning, also strongly featured, as well as curriculum-related research in areas such as delivery modes, student engagement and teaching methodologies. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the most comprehensive analysis of the accounting education literature to date. In the analysis, the authors also offer researchers and practitioners a closer look at where the discipline is likely heading and which subject interest areas are promising or waning.