Cory and Pruske: Necessary Skills for Accounting Graduates
Cory and Pruske discuss the skills required for the accounting field in their piece Necessary Skills for Accounting Graduates: An Exploratory Study to Determine What the field Wants. In order to pinpoint the critical competencies and subject areas pertinent to both accounting contexts, the writers evaluate both public and non-public accountants. The book makes clear that it is crucial to teach students the essential accounting skills that go beyond using worksheets, pencils, and erasers. This will improve the expertise of the accounting educators as well as the knowledge and abilities of the new recruits. To persuade their audience, Cory and Pruske apply various rhetorical analytic tools to present their information including the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. This paper, thus, presents a clear rhetorical analysis of the text to present the purpose, audience, and the content.
Purpose of the text
In the text, Cory and Pruske highlight the persistent dissatisfaction of skills in the accounting profession. The article acknowledges the efforts made in the past to change the education system in order to incorporate relevant skills. The authors state that it is important for accounting graduates to understand and master the knowledge and skills related to accounting which are associated with technological advancements including software and hardware. Amidst the rise of different accounting institutions such as the Big 8 accounting firms and the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC), it is still apparent that most educators and accounting students are not aware of the right skills that can improve performance in the accounting profession. The text is also aimed at bridging the persistent gap between the public and the non-public accounting arena. According to Cory and Pruske (2012), there is a great concern regarding the fact that most accounting programs offered are geared towards students in public accounting which results in the exclusion of those in the non-public arena. As such, the study conducted was aimed at identifying the courses and skills that can help enhance success in the non-public accounting arena.
Audience
The main audience of the text is the professionals who are aiming at majoring their career in accounting. The two authors intend to address the challenges that face both public and non-public accountants who aim at obtaining skills needed in the profession. In the introduction section, the authors highlight the purpose of the study in which they highlight that the text examines the necessary skills for accounting professionals. According to Cory and Pruske, "The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study examining the viewpoints of public accounting and non-public accounting professionals regarding accounting-related skills and topics they feel students should have prior to employment" (209). This shows that the target audience is the accountant professionals in both public and non-public sectors.
Authors
The authors of the text are Cory, Suzanne and Pruske, Kimberly who are both professors at the St. Mary’s University. The authors have utilized a formal writing style to present their arguments. This can be observed from the organization of the text; there is introduction, body, and conclusion in the paper. In addition, there are formal inclusion of scholars and authors from other studies which have been cited clearly. For instance, in the introduction, the two authors cite the content of Nelson and clearly outline the year of publication. It is stated, "... according to Nelson (1995), impassioned cries for changes in accounting education have come from the accounting profession..." The citation of the outside sources proves the utilization of formal style of writing. To maintain formality of the text, the authors have avoided the utilization of first-person. Throughout the paper, the authors have used third person to address the audience, except for the result section where they had to compare their results with that of other authors. This formality increases the reliability and validity of the message.
The essay (rhetorical appeals)
In the text, the authors utilize various rhetorical appeals including ethos, pathos, and logos to convince the audience of the significance of the content. There is evident use of ethos to show the credibility of the results of the study. This form of persuasion is commonly utilized by authors to show their credibility. In the case of Cory and Pruske, there is evident use of competence perquisite to show credibility. After conducting their research and analyzed data, the authors proved that their results were in line with other authors who had engaged in similar studies. In their findings, the authors revealed that the key accountant skills needed in the non-public arena are the database software and project management which was proven to be in line with previous studies. It is stated, "Our findings with these skills are in accordance with Welch et al. (2008), which found that database software and management skills are more important in the non-public sector than in public accounting" (Cory and Pruske 214). By obtaining results that are similar to the previous studies, it is evident that the results are reliable; this ethical appeal to the audience is very effective.
The text has also utilized pathos in its attempt to persuade the audience. This rhetorical technique refers to the attempt of convincing the audience by invoking empathy or emotions to attempt to relate with the issue addressed. In the text, the authors managed to draw pity from the professional accountants. In the introduction section, they clearly stated that some students have diverted from the discipline of accountancy to other courses due to lack of clearly demonstrated skills. The text states, "He expressed concern that the accounting academic community's resistance to change had contributed toward the loss of top students to other business disciplines" (Cory and Pruske 209). This text shows that many students are unable to choose accounting as a career due to the fact that there is lack of guidelines on the accountancy programs needed to get the correct skills. The statement can invoke a feeling of piety by the audience towards the students whose dreams could not be achieved.
The rhetorical appeal of logos is very evident throughout the text. This technique involves the use of statistics, facts, or literal analogies to ascertain a particular subject. In the case of the text, the authors have clearly outlines various logics to support their claims. The introduction section has an outlined number of reports that had been released in history to improve the guidelines for the accounting knowledge. According to Cory and Pruske, between the 1980s and 1990s, many institutions and reports had been created to improve the accounting arena. These include: The Bedford Committee's Report (1986), the Big 8 accounting firms' White Paper, the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC), and the American Accounting Association's Teaching and Curriculum Section (Cory and Pruske 208). The authors further highlight other reports that have supported the claim of needed reforms for inclusive accounting. The text states, "The 2000 Albrecht and Sack (A&S) seminal study reporting that, in general, accounting education had not changed substantively in response to the demands of accounting practitioners" (Cory and Pruske 209). These statistics increase the credibility of the authors' content.
Limitation of the Text
There are some noticeable limitations in the content of the text and its organization. In their study, Cory and Pruske attempted to conduct a quantitative study in which the authors collected data using survey method. An evident limitation in the method is the low response rate; the authors have notified that there was a response rate of only 19%. Out of 2,300 surveys, only 464 were filled and returned for analysis; this scenario can affect the reliability of the data collected. The text also addresses a global issue, the limitation of accountancy program. However, only individuals in south Texas were involved in the study; this could have further affected the results of the study. Another limitation that is evident in the text is its organization. A formal research should have various subjects including literature review, sampling method, ethical considerations, data analysis, recommendations, and future study. With only three sections of the text, there may be limited reliability.
Conclusion
In summary, Cory and Pruske apply various rhetorical techniques in the text to attract the audiences' attention. With the subject being the skills and knowledge needed for accountancy programs, the target audience for the study include students in both public and non-public accounting arenas. The authors acknowledge the fact that there has been lack of guidelines on the needed skills for accounting profession, and as such have attempted to carry out survey to highlight the needed skills. From the text, it is clear that the authors utilize ethos, logos, and pathos as key rhetorical techniques needed to persuade the audience. These techniques are effective in increasing the credibility and reliability of information provided by the authors.
Work Cited
Cory, Suzanne N., and Kimberly A. Pruske. "Necessary skills for Accounting Graduates: An explorattory study to determine what the profession wants." ASBBS Proceedings 19.1 (2012): 208.
