Phenomenology of the Dominant Environment in Public Sector Accounting Education from the Perspective of Graduates in Public Sector Accounting

Objective
One of the multifaceted studies that has received less attention in the accounting literature is the topic of public-sector accounting education. In contrast, this topic significantly impacts the advancement of public sector goals. For this reason, and due to the necessity of creating an appropriate position for public sector accounting in Iran, a public sector accounting minor was added to the graduate level of accounting for the first time since 2017. The curriculum for this field was authorized by the Development and Planning Council of the Ministry of Science in 2018. However, despite the many successes in establishing this field, due to the low capacity for accepting students and its centralization in the two cities of Karaj and Tehran, universities have not been very successful in educating and training the human resources needed by the public sector. Therefore, the purpose of the current research is to analyze the attitudes and lived experiences of public-sector accounting graduates regarding public-sector accounting education in Iranian universities.
Methods
In this research, a phenomenological approach was used to understand the lived experiences of accounting graduates in the public sector. The statistical population of the research includes all accounting graduates majoring in public sector accounting, who were selected using the purposeful sampling method. Fifty-three individuals were selected to reach theoretical saturation, and the main method of data collection was an unstructured interview with open-ended questions. This provided the participants with the opportunity to fully describe their experiences regarding public sector accounting education. In the current research, data analysis was conducted in five steps, using Giorgi's method.
 
 
Results
Three main themes—obstacles and challenges, benefits and opportunities, and solutions and procedures—were identified based on the opinions and views of the graduates for improving public sector accounting education. In addition, three different sub-themes were extracted for each of the main themes. In total, 36 distinct narratives were identified from the observations of the graduates regarding the primary obstacles to public sector accounting education. Most narratives related to the functions of trustee authorities, including universities, other higher education institutions, the accounting profession, and the government itself along with its subordinate institutions. Additionally, 16 narratives about the benefits of public-sector accounting education were identified, most of which pertained to the usefulness of the public sector for society. Finally, 22 strategies and procedures were proposed to enhance the quality of public sector accounting education, the most important of which are related to educational and academic content.
Conclusion
The findings indicate the important role of the government and its subordinate institutions, including the Ministry of Science, in addressing the obstacles and challenges of public sector accounting education, particularly through the revision of the approved curriculum for public sector accounting. According to the participants' preferences for practical and applied issues, as well as interdisciplinary topics, it is necessary to increase the emphasis on these subjects in the educational content provided by universities. Additionally, professors should give greater importance to these topics in their teaching. This goal can be achieved through the tripartite cooperation of institutions active in the public sector, the accounting profession, and universities to prepare practical and localized educational content for all approved courses in the field of public sector accounting, taking into account the conditions governing Iran's governance environment.