Hear author Wayne Thomas’s take on a recent Wall Street Journal Article, “How Can We Make Accounting Cool?”

Read the full article on the WSJ.com here.

Today’s college students are more digitally connected, tech-savvy, and socially conscious than ever. They desire exciting careers that are inspiring and meaningful, not just financially rewarding. As accounting educators, we have a wonderful opportunity to show them a dynamic profession filled with purpose—to transform society by helping its stakeholders make better decisions. 

However, we face the challenge that most students enter their first accounting course with the (mis)perception that accounting is merely another math class that involves memorizing formulas and plugging numbers to derive the “right” answer. On Day 1 of the Introduction Accounting course, it's important to dispel this myth. To do this, we need to revitalize our approach in the classroom. 

In McGraw Hill’s authored content like Financial Accounting by Spiceland, Thomas, and Herrmann, we revitalize accounting education using a large variety of real-world discussions and cases throughout the text and offering auto-graded assignment materials. Accounting concepts, critical thinking, and decision-making skills are demonstrated using data visualizations, live dashboards, financial analysis of well-known companies, ethical considerations, manipulation of earnings by managers, and integrated technologies.  

If accounting educators fail to understand how to motivate today’s college students to pursue a career in accounting, the current shortage of accountants will only worsen.