The Benefit of a Forensic Accounting Course on Creativity

• In Event: Education Research

Abstract

This study examines the impact of a forensic accounting course on participants' creativity. Creativity, which is linked to the ability to generate ideas and solve problems, is an essential skill for auditors and forensic accountants to develop. Using the Remote Associates Test, a word association task developed to measure creativity, we measure the levels of creative abilities for a group of participants who have taken a course in forensic accounting and a group of participants who have not taken a course in forensic accounting. Controlling for the personality factors shown by prior research to impact creativity, we find an incremental positive effect for the impact of a forensic accounting course on creativity. In other words, the participants who had taken a forensic accounting course exhibited a higher level of creativity than those who had not had a forensic accounting course. Because of the link between creativity and problem solving, we conclude that offering a forensic accounting course as part of the accounting curriculum supports the AICPA's Core Competency of problem solving.

Authors

• Chih-Chen Lee, Northern Illinois University

• Meghann Abell Cefaratti, Northern Illinois University