Accounting Education with a Sustainable Focus in Colombian Universities: Implications for the Role of Auditing
Abstract
Abstract
Climate change has intensified environmental degradation, evidenced by the alteration of ecosystems and the increase in extreme phenomena. Although public policies in Colombia promote sustainable development, environmental indicators continue to show worrying trends. In this context, the National Development Plan 2022–2026: Colombia, World Power of Life proposes a territorial approach that articulates economic, social, and environmental aspects.
Accounting education with a sustainable focus becomes a key tool for training professionals capable of responding to contemporary challenges. In Colombian universities, public accounting programs face the challenge of incorporating competencies oriented toward social responsibility, environmental management, and the generation of non-financial information, especially that linked to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reports.
Traditional accounting practice has created a gap between theory and practice, limiting the transformative capacity of professionals. Therefore, this project proposes designing pedagogical strategies that strengthen the teaching of accounting for sustainability, from the perspective of auditing and critical understanding of the organizational environment.
The research is conducted using a mixed analytical-descriptive approach based on the socio-critical paradigm. It employs documentary analysis of curricula at different universities in the country, complemented by semi-structured interviews with teachers, students, graduates, and experts. The objective is to contribute to the training of public accountants with social and environmental awareness, capable of influencing the sustainable transformation of Colombian organizations.
Downloads
References
DeFond, M., & Zhang, J. (2014). A review of archival auditing research. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 58(2–3), 275–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2014.09.002
Franco, G. A. (1998). Franco, G. A. (1998). Contabilidad integral: una propuesta para el desarrollo humano. Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Barrantes, M. (2014). Barrantes, M. (2014). Paradigmas de investigación en ciencias sociales. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 18(2), 95–110.
Minutti-Meza, M. (2013). Does auditor industry specialization improve audit quality? Journal of Accounting Research, 51(4), 779–817. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12015
Ferronato, N., & Torretta, V. (2019). Waste mismanagement in developing countries: A review of global issues. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(6), 1060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.05.001
Gray, R. (2010). Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability…and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.04.006
Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 3(2), 77–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jm.2009.03.001
Gutiérrez, H., & Lozano, R. (2022). Critical pedagogy and sustainability education: A review of the literature. Journal of Cleaner Production, 330, 129798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129798
Copyright (c) 2026 Jhonathan David Rincón Martínez, Andrés David Serrato Guana, Carlos Jhonnatan Alarcón Murillo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Colombian Journal of Accounting is open access and does not charge for the delivery of the articles, the editorial process and the publication. It can be consulted freely, without the requirement of registration, subscription or payment. The authors of the articles are creditors of all the authors' rights and retain the publication rights without restrictions. The author and third parties are allowed to read, download, copy, reproduce, distribute, communicate and create from the article, as long as the credit is attributed to the author(s), the initial publication is recognized in the Colombian Journal of Accounting and for non-commercial purposes. This journal provides free access to its content under the principle of making research available to the public free of charge, which fosters a greater exchange of global knowledge.
All the papers is licenced by Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0.
