Educating accountants with a sustainability-oriented professional identity in Central and Eastern Europe

Albu, Catalin-Nicolae et al. Article Educating accountants with a sustainability-oriented professional identity in Central and Eastern Europe Amfiteatru Economic Provided in Cooperation with: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies Suggested Citation: Albu, Catalin-Nicolae et al. (2025) : Educating accountants with a sustainabilityoriented professional identity in Central and Eastern Europe, Amfiteatru Economic, ISSN 2247-9104, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Vol. 27, Iss. 70, pp. 830-848, https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2025/70/830 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/328023 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ AE Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe 830 Amfiteatru Economic EDUCATING ACCOUNTANTS WITH A SUSTAINABILITY-ORIENTED PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Cătălin-Nicolae Albu1 * , Çağnur Balsari2, Meliha Bašić3, Zorica Bozhinovska Lazarevska4, Sandra Damijan5, Nikolina Dečman6, Ivan Dionisijev7, Olga Grzybek8, Gina Raluca Gușe9, Ana Lalević Filipović10 , Mustafa Oğuz11 , Ivana Perica12 , Metka Tekavcic13 , Elena Turuianu14 and Savka Vuckovic Milutinovic15 1)9)14)Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania; 2)Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey; 3)University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; 4)7)Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia; 5)13)University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; 6)University of Zagreb, Croatia; 8)University of Economics in Katowice, Poland; 10)University of Montenegro, Montenegro; 11)Balıkesir University, Turkey; 12)University of Split, Croatia; 15)University of Belgrade, Serbia Please cite this article as: Albu, C.N., Balsari, Ç., Bašić, M., Bozhinovska Lazarevska, Z., Damijan, S., Dečman, N., Dionisijev, I., Grzybek, O., Gușe, G.R., Lalević Filipović, A., Oğuz, M., Perica, I., Tekavcic, M., Turuianu, E. and Vuckovic Milutinovic, S., 2025. Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe. Amfiteatru Economic, 27(70), pp. 830-848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2025/70/830 Article History Received: 30 March 2025 Revised: 9 May 2025 Accepted: 11 June 2025 Abstract This paper has investigated the role that universities may play in shaping a sustainabilityoriented professional identity of accountants, which represents an essential contribution of the paper. A sample of 713 answers collected via an online questionnaire-based survey from prospective accountants in nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe was statistically analysed. This geographical area is largely ignored in the literature. By applying principal component analysis and cluster analysis, the paper documented that universities play a significant role in raising the interest of future accountants in sustainability matters, alongside other stakeholders and the societal and institutional factors. Exposure to sustainability-related activities also helps shape this new identity of future accountants, in conjunction with other education enablers, which should encourage universities to open their curriculum to such matters. * Corresponding author, Cătălin-Nicolae Albu – e-mail: [email protected] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2025 The Author(s). Sustainability Reporting: Catalyst for Organisational and Professional Change AE Vol. 27 • No. 70 • August 2025 831 Keywords: sustainability, accounting profession, professional identity, universities, Central and Eastern Europe JEL Classification: M41, M42, Q56 Introduction Sustainability has become a major concern for businesses worldwide, occupying an increasingly important place in the modern corporate reporting landscape. This phenomenon has been accentuated as the number of initiatives to regulate sustainability reporting at the European and international levels has increased. Due to intensifying demand for sustainability reporting that is transparent and relevant to various stakeholder groups, sustainability accounting has become a core component of corporate reporting (Ayinla et al., 2024). The role of accountants has expanded to incorporate sustainability considerations alongside traditional financial expertise, a change that is expected to influence their professional identity (Brouard et al., 2017). The topic of accountants’ professional identity formation is of interest in education literature (Reissner and Armitage-Chan, 2024). Thus, the role of factors such as professional associations, firms, governments, and societal stakeholders in shaping the professional identity of accountants has been addressed (Brouard et al., 2017). In addition to these factors, the professional identity of accountants is also constructed in universities, through lifelong learning, professional training, and continuing development programmes. This process requires overcoming structural challenges, such as the limited financial resources allocated to training faculty and the development of teaching materials on sustainability. The integration of sustainability aspects into accounting education is considered insufficient (Jorge, Peña and de los Reyes, 2017; Othman and Ameer, 2024), but necessary (Khan, 2013) and potentially transformative, as it equips students with the skills needed to address complex social, environmental, and economic challenges (Cho and Costa, 2024). There is an expertise gap in this respect (Dumitru et al., 2017; Krasodomska, Michalak and Świetla, 2020), which highlights the need to diversify accountants’ professional skills. In this regard, universities are expected to integrate sustainability into their curricula (Khan, 2013), and accounting programess are directly concerned by this development (Gray and Collison, 2002; Thomson and Bebbington, 2004). Despite an emerging literature on accountants’ involvement in sustainability-related activities, the role of universities in shaping the professional identity of accountants in relation to sustainability is still insufficiently explored. Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide evidence on the role of universities and other factors in shaping the sustainabilityoriented professional identity of accountants in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. A questionnaire-based survey was administered to students enrolled in accounting and accounting-related programmes in 11 universities across nine CEE countries. This comparative survey gives a wider perspective on the matters under investigation than singlecountry studies (in line with Albu et al., 2024). A number of 713 responses were statistically analysed, and universities were perceived to play an equally important role in shaping the sustainability-related professional identity of prospective accountants as societal and professional stakeholders. The paper also addresses the enabling factors and barriers to AE Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe 832 Amfiteatru Economic incorporating more sustainability topics into accounting education. Finally, the creation of a sustainability-related professional identity for accountants and its drivers were addressed. The article is structured as follows: the first section is a literature review on the bidirectional relationship between accounting education and sustainability, and the professional identity of accountants in relation to sustainability, and the role of various stakeholders in creating this identity. The second section outlines the research methodology, describing the data collection process and the instruments that were used. The third section discusses the paper’s findings. The last section presents the conclusions of the study, the research limitations, and some directions for future research. 1. Literature review 1.1. Professional identity of accountants around sustainability issues Recent research on sustainability accounting highlights its crucial role in modern corporate reporting, emphasising the integration of sustainability accounting into traditional financial practices. This shift reflects the growing recognition that businesses must account for their broader environmental, social, and governance impacts to ensure long-term sustainability and stakeholder trust. The adoption of comprehensive sustainability reporting frameworks was linked to improved corporate reputation, operational efficiency, and stakeholder engagement (Herremans, Nazari and Mahmoudian, 2016). The growing prominence of sustainability accounting reflects increasing investor, consumer, and regulatory demands for transparent non-financial reporting, yet the lack of standardised measurement and reporting methods poses a challenge for both businesses and stakeholders (Fagerström, Hartwig and Cunningham, 2017; Gil-Marín et al., 2022). Thus, accounting has transitioned from transaction recording to a key role in sustainability, with reporting now central to business strategy (Bebbington et al., 2021). This transformation not only redefines reporting frameworks, but also influences the skills and responsibilities of accountants. As accountants integrate financial and non-financial data, this shift is expected to influence their professional identity (Brouard et al., 2017). Their role is expanding to incorporate sustainability considerations along with traditional financial expertise. Accountants need advanced cognitive, emotional, social, digital, and moral intelligence to navigate the complexities of non-financial reporting and sustainable development (Ott, 2023). This expanded role highlights the accounting profession’s responsibility in fostering sustainable business practices while maintaining accountability and trust. This direction is promoted by some Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) (e.g., ACCA, 2024), that underscore accountants' vital role in non-financial reporting. As accountants’ roles expand, PAOs play a crucial role in defining their identity through education, certification, and the regulation of training and ethics coverage. Besides the societal expectations and PAOs’ support, the professional accountants’ identity is influenced by universities, which is particularly the case of prospective accountants, being educated in an environment acknowledging the importance of sustainability. However, outdated curricula in accounting education, inconsistencies in sustainability standards across jurisdictions, and resistance from traditional accounting firms might create barriers to effective integration of sustainability issues. This raises the question of whether sustainability is being meaningfully integrated into Sustainability Reporting: Catalyst for Organisational and Professional Change AE Vol. 27 • No. 70 • August 2025 833 accountants’ professional identity or if traditional financial expertise continues to dominate (Warren and Parker, 2009). 1.2. Role of stakeholders in identity formation Professional identity formation is a complex endeavor, subject to multiple influences. Brouard et al. (2017) propose a comprehensive framework for accountants’ identity formation, highlighting the influence of PAOs, firms, governments, and societal stakeholders. According to this framework, governments play a key role in shaping identity through regulation and exclusive practice rights. Moreover, PAOs contribute to the development of the accountants’ professional identity by setting ethical standards (Davenport and Dellaportas, 2009) and supporting continuing professional development (Duff, Hancock and Marriott, 2020). They also play an important role in cross-national regulation and policy (Suddaby, Cooper and Greenwood, 2007), promote the globalisation of the profession, initiate the socialisation of future accountants, and engage with society to reinforce professional values (Picard, Durocher and Gendron, 2014; Neal et al., 2024). Accounting firms serve as an important anticipatory socialisation mechanism in identity formation (Kornberger, Justesen and Mouritsen, 2011), where accounting standards are applied and put into practice, and professional identities are both formed and transformed. Employers also influence accountants’ identities through workplace experiences, organisational culture and training (Hamilton, 2013), as well as interactions with different clients and professional networks and practices (Kornberger, Justesen and Mouritsen, 2011; Murphy, 2017). Other professions can also redefine the identity of accountants, as they can bring more commercial values to the profession that can move them from accounting in a narrow sense to business advisory services (Malsch and Gendron, 2013). Universities, although overlooked in Brouard et al.’s (2017) framework, play a fundamental role in accountants’ identity formation by providing technical accounting skills for employment in accounting (De Lange, Jackling and Gut, 2006; Jackling and De Lange, 2009) and by developing their social identity, as well as professional character and adaptability (Sebele-Mpofu, 2024). Beyond universities, identity development continues through lifelong learning, professional training, and continuous development programmes (Hamilton, 2013; Murphy, 2017), which are essential for accountants to remain relevant in an ever-evolving profession. As societal aspects (images and stereotypes) change, the profession responds by addressing these perceptions and ensuring that it is in line with current business and societal needs (Brouard et al., 2017). Consequently, social aspects influence accountants’ identity and their interactions with society. 1.3 Sustainability in accounting education The integration of sustainability into accounting education has gained momentum, particularly following the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which emphasised embedding sustainability principles across all levels of education (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2014). Universities, as key institutions, are expected to incorporate sustainability into their curricula (Segovia and Galang, 2002; Khan, 2013; De Silva and Nilipour, 2024). Sustainability accounting education is transformative, equipping students with the skills to address complex social, environmental, and economic challenges (Cho and Costa, 2024). Yet, and despite growing recognition, the integration of sustainability into accounting education remains AE Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe 834 Amfiteatru Economic inconsistent and often superficial (Jorge, Peña and de los Reyes, 2017; De Silva and Nilipour, 2024). Many accounting programmes focus narrowly on technical aspects such as financial reporting, neglecting broader sustainability concepts such as ecological systems, business ethics, and values (Gray and Collison, 2002; Othman and Ameer, 2024). This discrepancy has been observed even in some settings where sustainability reporting is required, but accounting education lacks comprehensive coverage of sustainability topics (Boulianne, Keddie and Postaire, 2018). To address these gaps, scholars advocate revising accounting curricula to include sustainability-related competencies, such as ethical reasoning, stakeholder engagement, and environmental impact assessment (Gray and Collison, 2002; Thomson and Bebbington, 2004; Lungu, Caraiani and Dascălu, 2014). This requires a shift from conventional instructional methodologies toward more interdisciplinary and experiential approaches, such as real-life case studies and group activities, which promote critical thinking and the practical application of sustainability concepts (McPhail, 2001). Nevertheless, sustainability education is frequently regarded as an elective or supplementary component of the curriculum, rather than being incorporated as a fundamental element (Owen, 2007; Jorge, Peña and de los Reyes, 2017). This underscores the need for a more systematic approach to curriculum development, aligning with global sustainability goals, and preparing students for the changing demands of the profession (Bebbington and Thomson, 1996; Franco et al., 2019). Personal values act as a motivator of students' engagement in sustainability-related activities (Imbrișcă and Toma, 2020). Students who see the importance of these activities are more likely to embrace sustainability education and apply it professionally (Chulián, 2011; Shephard and Furnari, 2012; Rangarajan and Joshi, 2019; Lohberger and Braun, 2022; Hyytinen et al., 2023). However, a disconnect between education and industry needs persists, as accountants often prioritise financial concerns over sustainability, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (De Silva and Nilipour, 2024; Krasodomska, Zarzycka and Zieniuk, 2024). Universities must address this gap by integrating sustainability metrics, stakeholder engagement, and materiality assessments into curricula (Cho and Costa, 2024). However, challenges continue to persist, despite the regulatory and business expectations of universities to incorporate sustainability in education. The limited financial resources hinder investments in faculty training, course development, and teaching materials focused on sustainability (Chulián, 2011; Brouard et al., 2017; Boulianne, Keddie and Postaire, 2018). The lack of comprehensive instructional materials, such as textbooks and case studies, further complicates the effective teaching of sustainability topics (Khan, 2013; Botes, Low and Chapman, 2014). Moreover, overcrowded curricula, with a strong focus on traditional accounting topics, leave little room for sustainability courses (Owen, 2007; Jorge, Peña and de los Reyes, 2017). These challenges are compounded by the perception that sustainability is a niche area rather than a core competency for accountants (Owen, 2007; Boulianne, Keddie and Postaire, 2018). To conclude, the literature on sustainability education and integration of sustainability into accountants’ work is emerging, but the results remain rather disconnected. Moreover, studies generally cover one country and, in many cases, developed countries, making understanding of the accounting profession incomplete. In this context, this study is exploratory, and addresses the following research questions: Does the professional identity of prospective accountants integrate sustainability issues? What is the role of universities in relation to the other relevant stakeholders in the formation of sustainability-oriented accountants’ Sustainability Reporting: Catalyst for Organisational and Professional Change AE Vol. 27 • No. 70 • August 2025 835 professional identity? To what extent is sustainability included in university education, and what are the enablers of and barriers to this integration? 2. Research methodology For this paper, data has been collected by administering a questionnaire-based survey, an appropriate method to investigate professional identity and to elicit the students’ views on sustainability-related matters (e.g., Hamilton, 2013; Krasodomska, Michalak and Świetla, 2020). The survey has the advantage of allowing for a broader analysis across a wider geographical area, while it may be subject to inattentiveness risk. Therefore, following Gummer, Roßmann and Silber (2021), an instructed response item to deal with inattentiveness bias was included in the survey, as a robustness test. Similar to most studies in accounting and on accounting students and professionals, the questionnaire is convenience-based (and therefore it is rather an opinion survey). Respondents are students enrolled in the bachelor, graduate, and PhD cycles in accounting and accounting-related programs (i.e., financial management, financial analysis, business with a focus on accounting, auditing, etc.) of 11 universities located in nine countries in CEE (listed in alphabetical order): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. The first eight countries are generally included in the CEE region, while Turkey was added for its close geographical proximity and regional importance. The survey was pretested on 10 students enrolled in final years of their studies at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, which resulted in minor adjustments to the questions. The survey was administered in both each of the national languages of the nine countries and in English only for international students studying in the targeted universities. Only 19 answers were received in English, and they were integrated with the answers obtained in national languages for the analyses. The questionnaire comprised 13 closed-ended questions (including demographic ones) and one open question inviting respondents to indicate aspects that could have been overlooked in the survey. The questions addressed the following topics: features pertaining to accountants’ professional identity; factors influencing this identity; extent, importance, enablers and barriers for sustainability education in universities. The survey was administered online via Google Forms between 17 December 2024 and 7 February 2025, to allow for different academic year structures among the targeted institutions. No significant statistical difference was observed between the first and last 10 responses received for each country (the last 10 being used as a proxy for non-respondents). While there is a low risk of non-response bias, the results pertain to the universities that were targeted, and generalisability across the entire student population is not claimed. These universities are, nevertheless, highly ranked in their fields and their countries, and can be assumed to be de facto representative of the CEE situation. A total number of 838 complete answers were received across the entire sample of countries. However, 125 answers (approx. 15% of responses) provided by respondents who failed the inattentiveness test have been removed. Table no. 1 describes the final sample that was analysed. AE Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe 836 Amfiteatru Economic Table no. 1. Demographic data on respondents Country No. of obs. Gender Educational Level Experience Female Male Undergraduate Graduate /PhD None Short Medium Long Bosnia and Herzegovina 87 61 26 19 68 7 28 9 43 Croatia 108 93 15 29 79 43 21 23 21 Montenegro 52 42 10 3 49 12 12 7 21 North Macedonia 61 48 13 54 7 29 21 5 6 Poland 99 73 26 58 41 41 18 15 25 Romania 82 56 26 50 32 19 23 13 27 Serbia 83 61 22 18 65 23 22 11 27 Slovenia 50 39 11 17 33 16 7 21 6 Turkey 91 51 40 48 43 40 26 14 11 Total 713 524 189 296 417 230 178 118 187 The number of respondents per country ranged from 50 (Slovenia) to 108 (Croatia), with an average number of 80 responses per country. Up to 60% of the respondents are graduate students enrolled in master’s and PhD programs, whereas the rest of up to 40% are enrolled in bachelor programs. This distribution of the educational level might also explain their experience level in accounting practice, with 2/3 of the sample having some sort of work experience in accounting, of which approximately 43% have a medium (part-time employment) to long (full-time employment) engagement, and the rest of approximately 25% being involved in school-mandated internships; only a third of the respondents had no work experience in accounting practice whatsoever. Preliminary tests were conducted to check for potential bias introduced in the answers by some countries (e.g., large ones). No significant bias was identified. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), cluster analysis, and Mann-Whitney U test were subsequently applied, among others, to statistically analyse the data. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Differences in professional identity of accountants To explore the differences in professional identity, and the extent to which professional identity incorporates sustainability, cluster analysis was conducted on responses when participants were asked to assess agreement on eight statements related to the impact of sustainability on the accounting profession. Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) was applied, as the number of clusters is not pre-specified. Based on the values for the Silhouette and the Hartigan index, two clusters were retained (corresponding to the highest values for the indexes). Results are reported in table no. 2. Sustainability Reporting: Catalyst for Organisational and Professional Change AE Vol. 27 • No. 70 • August 2025 837 Table no. 2. Types of professional identity of prospective accountants Items Mean for the overall sample (St. dev.) Types of professional identity Univariate test of equality means across clusters Sustainabilityoriented Traditional Fstatistic p-value Accountants can positively contribute to organisational sustainability agendas. 4.119 (0.863) 4.444 3.559 209.102 <0.0001 The current state of the planet and society increases the interest in, and demand for sustainability accounting. 4.053 (0.954) 4.390 3.515 176.973 <0.0001 Sustainability accounting, reporting and assurance can improve corporate reporting. 4.221 (0.802) 4.599 3.668 333.142 <0.0001 Sustainability accounting, reporting and assurance can improve accountants’ overall standing in society. 3.982 (0.971) 4.346 3.398 210.212 <0.0001 There are increasing job opportunities in sustainability accounting. 3.540 (1.042) 3.872 3.007 138.793 <0.0001 Sustainability reporting enriches accountants’ career choices. 3.725 (1.048) 4.164 3.022 278.374 <0.0001 Incorporating sustainability into the accounting profession is a necessary step in the evolution of the profession. 3.971 (0.979) 4.506 3.113 654.806 <0.0001 Sustainability accounting and reporting should be inherent to the accounting profession. 3.923 (1.031) 4.478 3.033 619.998 <0.0001 Number of observations 713 439 274 Note: Table no. 2 reports on the respondents’ professional identity characteristics (assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). Moreover, the mean values for the two clusters identified through AHC and the univariate test of equality means across clusters are reported. Based on the mean values obtained for each item, the clusters were named sustainabilityoriented professional identity (439 respondents, 61.57%) and traditional professional identity (274 respondents, 38.43%), respectively. Accordingly, results show how a significant group of students exhibits an interest toward integrating sustainability issues in their identity, alongside traditional financial expertise, as is expected in the current environment (Ott, 2023). An interesting observation is that, regardless of the inclusion in any of the two clusters, respondents awarded the highest score to the belief that sustainability accounting, reporting and assurance can improve corporate reporting (the statement scored overall the highest mean value of 4.221, with 4.599 for sustainability-oriented professional identity and 3.668 for traditional professional identity, respectively). These findings are consistent with studies documenting the increased importance of sustainability accounting and reporting considering AE Educating Accountants with a Sustainability-Oriented Professional Identity in Central and Eastern Europe 844 Amfiteatru Economic provide significant results. For example, while the coauthors of this paper have provided information on the accreditation status of the programmes enrolling the students who answered this survey, the analyses did not carry in-depth explanations on the role of obtaining such accreditation status. Besides accreditation by national agencies, obtaining accreditation from international or national PAOs is very important, at least in some of the countries in the CEE region, and understanding more about the importance of this process on the formation of the accountants’ professional identity would prove important. This research can be further extended to investigate specific cases of universities and programmes that have increased the proportion of sustainability-related courses and actions and the impact of such measures on the interests of accountants in such topics, or in-depth investigations of how prospective accountants deal with sustainability issues. Another potentially interesting avenue for further research is to explore the cross-country differences that manifest in the data. 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