Technology Acceptance in the Auditing Education: Evidence from the MENA Region

Abstract

There is increasing recognition worldwide of the disruptive nature of technology and its use by auditors, which has brought new opportunities and challenges to accounting and auditing education worldwide. Many business schools have responded to these challenges by incorporating Information Technology (IT) in their respective programs and curriculums. Despite these recent changes, little research was done to comprehend students' perceptions and attitude toward IT. In the current research, students' performance was conceptualized through individual and task dimensions in a technology acceptance context. A survey instrument was utilized for this purpose and analyzed using PLS-SEM. Research results demonstrate two facets: students' perceived ease of use and perceived intention to use are affected by the fit between the software capabilities and the task students will perform. Finally, perceived ease of use was translated into superior student performance. The research broadens auditing education beyond traditional reaching ideology and highlights how students in the Arab countries perceive technology acceptance into the auditing curriculum and how their performance is impacted by the extent to which the software capabilities fit auditing curriculum outcomes.