The authors analyze the schism between accounting practitioners and academics, providing historical, philosophical, and political perspectives on this division. They support the efforts of the Accounting Education Change Commission in its call for sweeping changes in the scope and quality of accounting education. This schism originated before the turn of the century in the United States over concerns about the best preparation for professional accountants. Since that time, the nature of the schism has broadened considerably. Accounting has largely been taught in a structured framework, far removed from the dynamic and ill-structured situations resulting from environmental changes in which accounting is practiced. This gulf between accounting and practice reflects the schism today, which has become a division between individuals with different philosophical, economic, and political goals and attitudes. Nevertheless, the authors view the schism in a positive light--as a natural reflection of different ideas that lead to beneficial changes.
The authors begin with a philosophical perspective on the schism, as a division between opposing ideas, and deal with three areas of the accounting schism: education, practice, and standard-setting. The main focus is on education. The history of the schism is then delineated. Other views of the schism are considered next, including economic, political, and utilitarian. The function of the schism in the world of accounting is examined. Recent changes in the nature and complexity of the environment in which accounting is practiced are presented. This book is suitable for use in accounting theory and policy courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and in accounting education seminars at the graduate level. In addition, the book should be of interest to accounting practitioners.
About the Author: ROBERT BLOOM is Professor of Accountancy at John Carroll University./e He has published articles in Accounting Organizations and Society, Journal of Accounting Literature, Accounting Historians Journal, International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Accounting Education, Advances in International Accounting, and others. Bloom is the coauthor or coeditor of six other books, including two published by Quorum--Decision Support Systems in Finance and Accounting (1988) and Opportunity Cost in Finance and Accounting (1990).
HANS HEYMANN is Executive Vice President of OSCI in Geneva, Illinois. He has been an Associate Professor of Finance at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana, and Illinois Institue of Technology in Chicago. He has published articles in several academic and professional journals in finance, economics, and accounting. He has coauthored Decision Support Systems in Finance and Accounting (Quorum, 1988) and Opportunity Cost in Finance and Accounting (Quorum, 1990).
JAYNE FUGLISTER is Associate Professor of Accounting at Cleveland State University. She has published articles in Issues in Accounting Education, The CPA Journal, Internal Auditor, The Ohio CPA, The Accounting Historians Journal, and others. She is a member of the American Accounting Association and the Academy of Accounting Historians.
MARILYNN COLLINS is Associate Professor of Accountancy at John Carroll University, and is a CPA in Ohio. Her research and publication interests are in accounting education, accounting history, and enternational accounting. She has published in the Journal of Accounting, Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability and the Journal of Education for Business, among others.
