Exploring the values orientations of international accounting students : implications for educators

The internationalisation of accounting education has grown significantly over the last decade, with Australia now being the third largest provider of international degrees. This internationalisation has brought benefits to both students and academics by widening their understandings and perspectives of other countries and cultures. The diversity has also provided a basis for researching the impact of culture on student's approaches to teaching and learning. However, no study to date has measured and analysed the tensions that exist between the cultural values of students and educators. This paper reports an exploratory study of postgraduate students enrolled in a foundation accounting subject at an Australian university to discover the extent of the difference in values orientations. Application of the Model of Basic Values (Lingenfelter and Mayers, 2003) revealed core differences which were analysed and discussed. Practical applications for culture-bridging strategies were identified in terms of implications for teaching and for personal interaction.