Embedding Sustainability in Accounting Education: Exploring the Role of SDGs in Saudi Arabian Higher Education Institutions

The objective of education for sustainable development is to incorporate concerns of sustainable development in teaching and learning, hence enabling the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The current study explores the incorporation of SDGs into the accounting programs of higher educational institutions in Saudi Arabia. The study uses quantitative research for analysis. A structured questionnaire was designed to incorporate different aspects of demography and various factors related to incorporating SDG 4 (ensuring quality education) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) into the accounting curriculum. The study population consisted of Saudi Arabian Universities, and the study sample comprised students at different levels of the accounting program at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University. The final study sample consisted of 91 responses. The study has selected accounting courses that are significant for incorporating SDGs, ranking them based on the responses received. Further, the study estimated two models using simple regression where SDG 4 (quality education) and SDG 8 (economic growth and productive employment) are employed as dependent variables alternatively. At the same time, student willingness and student perception were the independent variables. The results indicate that students believe sustainability concepts should be integrated into all the accounting courses examined in the studies, such as Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Advanced Accounting, and Auditing, with particular emphasis on Managerial Accounting (based on the assumption of 20.9% students). Further, the empirical findings reveal that accounting students are interested in integrating accounting courses with Sustainability and favor incorporating the SDGs into the accounting curriculum (the coefficients of student willingness and student perception were 0.19 and 0.57, respectively, significant at less than 5% and 1% level of significance). Based on the quantitative findings, the study recommends incorporating SDG 4 and SDG 8 into the accounting curriculum at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University.