Integrating Sustainability in Accounting Curricular of Higher Education Institutions: Analyzing Universities in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

The effects of unsustainable actions persist, triggering and sustaining a discussion on strategies and controls required to mitigate the consequences. Greater disclosure is required by entities regarding the governance processes, strategies, and controls they employ to manage climate-related risks and opportunities, thereby creating an expanded role for accountants. With this expanded role, higher education institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in fostering and instilling sustainability values through the knowledge and skills they transfer to accounting students. HEIs must be assessed to ascertain if sustainability concepts are integrated into current accounting curricula, thereby addressing SDG 4, and SDG 12 which can be achieved through the knowledge these HEIs transfer. A contextual content analysis is carried out on the accounting curricula of 76 Nigerian universities to search for keywords related to sustainability. This study reveals a low level of integration; 16 of the 62 keywords were found in the curricula of 25 of the 76 universities studied. The results indicate the most frequently occurring keywords and the courses and universities associated with the most keywords. This study demonstrates that accounting education in Nigeria has not yet keyed into the program aimed at achieving the ‘Agenda’. This outcome underscores the need to review the existing accounting curricula to ensure that accounting education contributes to the movement towards sustainable development.

1. Introduction

Discussion on sustainable development has persisted as the world is still far from achieving the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda [1]. The effects of unsustainable action persist, with news of diseases, flooding, and rising rates of poverty [2,3,4]. Given these seemingly unending challenges, the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) recently issued a standard requiring entities to disclose information relating to their governance processes, strategies, and the controls they employ in managing climate-related risks and opportunities in their financial statement [5]. Businesses are now aware of their responsibilities in managing the risks that result from their social, environmental, and economic activities [6]. With the growing demand for sustainability, corporations must focus on social equity and ecological conservatism [6,7].

Studies have shown that accountants take a proactive role in disclosure as they have the responsibility of providing detailed information on an organization’s activity, which is relied upon by diverse stakeholders [6,8,9]. The role of accountants has now advanced as they must apply a universal and consistent criterion, provide assurance conclusions for entities’ climate reports, and address the concerns of diverse stakeholders [5,10]. Therefore, accountants must possess requisite knowledge and skills [7,9]. The readiness of accounting professionals to adopt this new role must be assessed [5]. Cho et al. [11] and Gunarethne and Rajasooriya [12] have shown that accountants lack the knowledge required for these functions.

There is a growing interest in sustainability in accounting education. Some studies have examined how different stakeholders perceive the integration of sustainability in accounting education. Some have developed factors that engender sustainability integration in accounting education [13] and frameworks for effective integration [14]. Other works in the literature have looked at the extent to which accounting curricula align with the sustainability agenda [9]. The majority of these studies have been conducted in developed economies. Studies that touch on emerging economies are scarce, presenting a gap that needs to be filled. A good starting point would be to establish the extent of integration of sustainability into accounting education in developing economies as they attempt to achieve SDG 4 quality education and by extension SDG 12 responsible consumption and production. To address this research gap, the study seeks to examine the accounting curriculum in higher education institutions (HEIs) to determine the extent to which sustainability is integrated.

HEIs have been known to play roles in transforming societies by imparting education to diverse groups within society. Have HEIs keyed into this new relevance of accountants by developing an appropriate curriculum that integrates the ecological and social justice issues addressed in sustainability development? Some studies have questioned HEIs and how they are effectively responding to the sustainability agenda. The educational system must respond to the pressing need to create knowledge and new skills, attitudes, and values that will result in a more sustainable society in the design of a tertiary education program. The competence required from the students is highly relevant and should, therefore, be developed to enhance employability. HEIs must become sensitive to the evolving dynamics of the business world [15]. They must shift away from the stakeholders’ value maximization model [2,14] and move towards instilling education that will cater to the various SDGs and foster responsible consumption and production (SDG 12) and Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8).

The next generation of accountants must possess the new skills and knowledge that are currently emerging. They must be aware of pertinent regulatory issues, and they must be competent in making ethical judgments. They should be able to assess and analyze sustainability risks, as well as report on sustainability performance. This is the group that will drive the performance and accountability of corporations in a direction that ensures the sustainability of our world [15,16]. Given the critical function of HEIs in fostering sustainability through the knowledge and skills transferred to their students (quality education), Nigerian universities must be assessed to ascertain their current practices and to determine how sustainability concepts are integrated into their accounting curricula. This study’s objective is to determine if HEIs in Nigeria integrate sustainability into their accounting curricula. In order to ascertain the state of affairs, this study interrogates the following research question:

RQ: Do the higher education institutions in Nigeria integrate sustainability into their accounting education curricula?

The study adopted a convenience sampling method to analyze the curricula of 76 universities. A contextual content analysis was carried out on the curricula based on 62 keywords. The result reveals a low level of integration, with 16 out of the 62 keywords appearing in the curricula. The keywords appear in six courses offered by 25 of the 76 universities examined. The outcome of this study highlights the gap in accounting education concerning sustainability by showing the extent of the integration of sustainability in accounting education. This also shows the extent of the contribution of HEIs in emerging economies to achieving the goals of the Agenda. This outcome underscores the need for accounting educators to urgently review accounting curricula to ensure that the accounting education they provide is designed to equip students with a better understanding of the ethical and social dimensions of the profession, enabling them to navigate the social and environmental complexities of the world.

Given accounting’s expanded role in confronting social and environmental challenges, this assessment is essential. Traditional accounting curricula may not adequately equip students to handle the complexities of corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting.

This study aims to align accounting education and the profession with the global sustainability agenda. The rest of this study is structured into five sections: a review of the literature that comprises an empirical review, a theoretical review, and the conceptual framework; this is followed by the Methodology, Analysis, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion sections, which also discuss the implications and limitations of the study and areas for future studies.

1.1. Literature Review

The role of accountants in achieving the sustainability agenda has recently been recognized. This recognition is demonstrated in the increased discussion about integrating sustainability into accounting education curricula. In the past, there was a misconception of the accountant’s role as merely for the provision of information to depict the value of the equity market [2]. Accounting students were required to focus only on the financial measures of an organization’s performance, which mainly relate to profits, thereby ignoring non-financial measures [17]. Studies have shown that knowledge and understanding of sustainability are very low, and this is the result of a lack of integration of sustainability issues into curricula [17]. Alvarez-Risco et al. [18] showed that there is a significant lack of exposure to the SDGs among students. Weybrecht [19] also found that although many schools are now aware of the SDG, few are integrating sustainability into their programs. They found that many business schools have continued to provide traditional business and management education, which does not create room for critical thinking and reasoning. In another study, Kim [20] examined the extent to which students learn the theories of CSR that will help build sustainable societies in the Asian multicultural context and found a poor understanding of CSR issues among students. However, some economies are more mature, and universities in these areas have taken steps to integrate sustainability into their accounting programs [5,21]. These economies have realized the need for accountants to develop critical and interdisciplinary skills for sustainability competence. This aligns with SDG 4: Quality education which advocates quality education in other to promote lifelong learning. In studies that investigated the level at which students are more aware of sustainability, Nerantzidis [21] and Hadi and Abdel-Razzaq [22] found that postgraduates were more aware of sustainability development, as they adhered to sustainability principles. However, sustainability is not widely understood in society [10]. Even with numerous discussions on this topic, not much has been achieved [23,24]. Generally, there is still a low level of integration of sustainability in accounting education [25]. Instilling this knowledge in students and future business leaders requires conscious and considerable action. With increased awareness of the unsustainable activities of businesses, means of countering these activities have been sought. There is an argument that starting to embed sustainability knowledge and skills early will enable accounting graduates to effectively address environmental and social challenges. See Figure 1.

Organizations’ processes have evolved and developed, and this should shape accounting practice and education. Accounting education should align with the evolutional process of the organizations [26]. HEIs have been known to contribute to the transformation of societies by imparting education to the diverse groups in society. The university has been noted for the critical role it plays in shaping knowledge and driving societal progress. It has also been viewed as central to creating and disseminating knowledge [27]. In other words, universities are key to the successful implementation of the SDGs. Therefore, sustainability discussions are urgently needed in HEIs [11,28,29]. However, even with the development and understanding of sustainability, topics in the classroom remain limited to techno-economic knowledge [30].

Some studies have suggested pathways for integrating sustainability into accounting education. A study by Khosa et al. [5] aiming to find the extent to which the accounting curricula in Australian and New Zealand universities address the challenges of new financial reporting requirements associated with climate-related sustainability found that the 42 universities had integrated sustainability in their accounting curricula. Their methods of integrating sustainability into their curricula include adjusting existing courses to incorporate the newly required skills and knowledge. Creel and Paz [31], Ascant et al. [32], Lee et al. [33], and Cooray et al. [7] all support the integration of sustainability topics into an existing accounting course, such as management accounting, external reporting, governance, and management accounting textbooks, ref. [34] rather than teaching sustainability and sustainability issues as a standalone course. AL-Hazaima et al. [1] also found the most support for integrating sustainability education into accounting courses compared to other styles. Alawattage et al. [35] have also suggested that it is easier to thematize the ecological and social justice issues in sustainability alongside strategic management courses. Again, Martinez-Bravo et al. [13] found support for experiential learning, active learning, the on- and off-campus promotion of student leadership, institutional involvement, program adaptation, and professional knowledge and experience transfer.

Furthermore, Rodriguez and Gomez et al. [36] argued that the ethical and CSR instruction received in current courses is insufficient to impact the economic vision students form while training in higher education. In their study to determine the impacts of university instruction in business ethics on students’ economic and social vision and how it affects their perception of CSR, a positive relationship was found. Ethical training positively impacted both social and economic vision, and family training further strengthened the impact of ethical training on social vision.

Students have reported benefiting from learning about sustainability while in school [37]; in other words, school and education are where the majority of students learn about sustainability [8]. The students reported that their disciplinary worldview had changed following their exposure to sustainability education. Mason and Rosenbloom [38], in a study on students’ perception of the integration of poverty into their curriculum and their personal agency regarding poverty, found that students had a conviction that, as businesspeople, they would have an obligation to alleviate poverty. This outcome was a result of the instructions received at school and not because of the instructions of their employers. This indicates many opportunities for HEIs to design programs that convince students to pursue their personal agency in their future career.

A pedagogical approach thrives when the basic elements for successful integration are present. Higher education institutions, as centers for social transformation, should provide a context in which sustainable practices are learned. It is therefore imperative to adopt strategies that support sustainability education for successful implementation. Memon and Suresh [39] tried to understand the practices, strategies, and activities adopted by higher education institutions in incorporating sustainability; they found that the successful integration of sustainability in higher education institutions can be attributed to governmental initiatives enacted through regulatory changes and accreditation frameworks, charters and declaration signed by institutions, top management support, and a strong understanding of sustainability concepts in members of the faculty. Aung and Hallinger [40] suggested that sustainability in higher education will benefit from transforming university practices through reorientation, reshaping the university mission, and stakeholder commitment. They found that leadership is pivotal for the successful integration of sustainability concepts into higher education institutions. Yadav and Prakash [41] attempted to identify factors that influence the integration of sustainability in HEIs and identified factors that can significantly impact sustainable development integration in HEIs, including recognizing sustainable development, institutional sustainability frameworks, external environment, readiness for sustainable development, and educators’ resourcefulness. Unfortunately, Mara, Feemer, Estevez, and Chalmeta [13] identified a lack of frameworks to guide the integration of the sustainability development goals in higher education institutions. Amoako [42] found a low level of influence from stakeholders. Cooray et al. [7] found that in developing countries, sustainable development education is driven mainly by interested individuals and not policy implementation. Waybrecht [19] suggested that business schools must see sustainability as an issue central to business and business education. Sustainability should form part of their overarching strategy. The study suggests providing incentives for integration such as accreditations, ranking, and publishing. This calls for urgent comprehensive reforms in education for sustainability in higher education in developing countries

There is indeed a growing body of literature concerning the integration of sustainability education in the accounting curricula in HEIs. The majority of these works have proven the need to integrate sustainability education in accounting curricula. Some have looked at the pedagogical approaches and frameworks required for successful integration, but the majority of these works have focused on developed economies. Several other studies [14,43] have called for qualitative research in teaching the SDGs, especially in regions outside the US and Europe [44]. It is worth responding to these calls by first determining the state of affairs in terms of sustainability integration in Nigerian HEIs. Sustainability is a global concern, and this shift should be reflected in accounting education. To bridge this gap, this study examines the HEIs in an emerging economy, Nigeria, to ascertain the extent to which sustainability education is integrated in accounting education. The outcome of this study will stimulate appropriate reactions through policy recommendations.

1.2. Theoretical Review

The integration of sustainability in accounting education can be supported with both fundamental and contemporary theories. The triple-bottom-line theory, system theory, and personal agency theory are adopted in this study.

The triple-bottom-line theory was proposed by Elkington [45] and argues that organizational success should be scaled on three fundamental bases: economic, social, and environmental. This theory argues that an organization’s success cannot only be measured financially; its social responsibility, equity, and conservatism must also be assessed. This calls for a broadening of the scope of accounting education to incorporate sustainability concepts, which will prepare students for the demands of a sustainable future by equipping them to make ethical decisions [46] and meet the expectations of stakeholders [1] while balancing economic performance.

The system theory is a multidisciplinary framework that evaluates the integration of different components within a whole. This theory can be used to explain the interconnectedness and interaction between the social, economic, and ecological systems rather than focusing on one component. This comprehensive approach is pivotal for addressing the challenges of sustainability. The theory can be used to explain how pursuing one element will affect the other elements in the system. Traditional accounting education focuses on financial measures while neglecting the environmental and social dimensions [6]. Powell and Mc Guigan [47] argue that accounting education must be reviewed to enable students understand the interdependencies among these components and the effects of the decisions made by corporations, as corporations are called to align with SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production. Accounting graduates must be prepared to be responsive to global challenges [26].

The theory of personal agency is used here to explain the importance of integrating sustainability into accounting education. This theory posits that people are agents of experience rather than undergoers of experience [48]; they are active agents who can consciously initiate change in their lives and environment rather than passive recipients who are influenced by externalities. Agency, which refers to acting intentionally, is influenced by various factors, including personal experience, culture, and social context. It is important to highlight the interplay between individual behavior and social structure in exercising agency. Therefore, when students exist in a social structure that exposes them to sustainability discussions early in their developmental phase, it will affect their behavior later in life. This exposure to sustainability will influence how they exercise agency later in life, as people are agents of experience. They will consciously initiate change in the environment. This theory underscores the importance of integrating sustainability into accounting education. This exposure at the training stage of students will guide their conviction regarding sustainability and equip them to perform their duties as agents of change and key players in achieving the sustainability agenda.

The remaining part of this study will discuss the methods utilized, provide an analysis and discussion, and, finally, discuss the conclusions and implications.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Design

This study aims to provide exploratory evidence of the extent to which sustainability-related issues are integrated into the accounting curricula of Nigerian universities. In response to the research question and in line with previous studies [49,50], the accounting curricula of HEIs in Nigeria are examined for content related to sustainability. Web-based qualitative content analysis was employed for the study. This study is based on the assumption that there is alignment between the course structure, content taught, learning objective or intended outcome, assessment, and curriculum. This allows for an examination of the knowledge and skills provided by educators [51].

2.2. Sampling

A convenience sampling method was adopted based on the availability of information. In this study, we excluded universities that do not offer accounting (13 universities) and universities whose curricula are not listed on their websites (184 universities). This left 76 universities as the sample (see

Table 1. Systematic process of arriving at the sample.

Description	Total Number of Universities	Federal Universities	State Universities	Private Universities
Universities on NUC website	273	62	63	148
Description	Total number of universities	Federal universities	State universities	Private universities
Universities offering accounting	260	58	59	143
Description	Total number of universities	Federal universities	State universities	Private universities
Universities with curriculum available	76	22	21	33
Description	Total number of universities	Federal universities	State universities	Private universities
Universities with sustainability keywords	25	9	4	12

Source: Field survey, 2025.

). This study is based on the list of universities on the NUC website in the year 2024 (for the 2023/2024 academic year). Seventy-six universities whose curricula are accessible on the internet formed the sample for this study. In Nigeria, the higher education sector consists of universities and other institutions such as polytechnics, colleges of education, distance learning centers, and affiliates of these institutions. However, only public and private universities were selected for this study. The decision to focus on universities and exclude other higher education providers is in line with previous studies. Furthermore, universities have been noted for the critical role they play in shaping knowledge and driving societal progress. They have been viewed as the center for the creation and dissemination of knowledge [27]. Therefore, universities are a good representation of HEIs in Nigeria. Some Nigerian universities do not offer accounting; these were not included in the sample. Only undergraduate accounting programs and their core accounting courses were reviewed.

The CCMASS

The development of the core curriculum minimum academic standard (CCMAS) aims to bring uniformity to the undergraduate academic programs of all federal, state, and private Nigerian universities. The CCMAS should provide 70% of the curriculum for all courses and disciplines in Nigerian universities, and the universities should provide the remaining 30% of their curriculum with consideration for local content. The CCMAS for accounting was analyzed to determine the extent of sustainability integration, given that it aims to prepare students for the 21st century.

2.3. Data Pre-Processing

The National University Commission (NUC), being the chief regulatory body for universities in Nigeria, has a list of all universities in Nigeria on its website, containing a total of 273 universities, including 62 federal universities, 63 state universities, and 148 private universities. The websites and other details concerning these universities can be found on the NUC website. Through the various universities’ websites, information on these universities, such as course descriptions and course outlines, has been made public. Where such content was not accessible, contact was made with the relevant university. The education providers are responsible for the content on their website, and this provides prima facie validity of the data sourced from the website. This study extends beyond the title of the course and the course description, as was detailed in previous studies [50,52].

2.4. Data Processing

A manual coding technique was adopted in this study to explore course titles; brief descriptions of the courses; and the aims, learning outcomes, and structures of the courses (for universities that share these details). This course information relevant to the study was manually extracted and added into Excel spreadsheets before coding. The coders searched each curriculum for keyword frequencies on the assumption that the keywords are representative of the relative importance of sustainability concepts. The sixty-two keywords used in the study by De Silva and Nilipour [9] were adopted. These keywords have also been adopted in previous studies and are quite extensive (incorporating keywords from the ISSB and SASB). These keywords (see

Table 2. Sustainability keywords.

Sustainability	Environmental Sustainability	Social Sustainability
Accountability Planetary boundaries Anthropocene Responsibility Circular economy Responsible CSR/Corporate social responsibility SASB/Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Double materiality SDG/Sustainable Development Goals Ethical Stewardship Ethics Sustainability Fair trade Sustainable Governance TBL/Triple bottom line GRI/Global Reporting Initiative Transparency Integrated reporting Transparent ISSB/International Sustainability Standards Board Value Reporting Foundation	Biological Green Biodiversity Land use Carbon Natural Clean tech Packaging Climate change Pollution Emissions Recycling Ecological Renewable Energy Resource management Environment Waste Environmental Water	Community Lifecycle/Life cycle Culture Philanthropy Diversity Poverty Equality Race Gender Responsible investment Health Social Human rights Social enterprises Inclusion Social impact Labour Society

Source: De Silva and Nilipour, 2024.

) address sustainability in a broad sense and provide a general framework, as sustainability is a global phenomenon. The cultural perspectives of these terminologies have not been considered. This is further discussed in the limitations of this study.

To ensure intercoder reliability and allow for replicability, the researchers developed a coding guideline and book. These were pretested by two coders who were previously involved in content analysis. Sub-samples of the accounting curriculum were provided to the coders and were independently analyzed. An intercoder reliability of 100% was ascertained. To perform the final coding process, the curriculum information was examined, keyword by keyword, considering the context in which the keywords appeared. Two to three keywords before and after the keywords were considered to ensure that the words were related to sustainability and that the keywords were not counted twice. For instance, the “environment” in “business environment” does not refer to the environment in sustainability discussions. The keywords present were eventually counted and used for analysis.

2.5. Systematic Selection Process

All the universities listed on the NUC website were first extracted into an Excel sheet. This sheet was copied to a second tab, from which universities that do not offer accounting were eliminated. This list was again copied onto a third tab, and universities whose curriculum and other course information could not be obtained were again eliminated. This list was again copied to a fourth tab. Keywords in the curriculum of the universities in the fourth tab were searched for; see Table 1.

2.6. Coding

A coding spreadsheet was created for all the universities selected in the fourth spreadsheet. All the keywords were entered at the top of the spreadsheet in columnar form. The universities on the final list were investigated one by one. For each university, each course offered was recorded, and the keywords were searched for. Any keyword identified in the context of sustainability was noted under the keywords, and the number of times it appears in each course was also recorded. The process was repeated for each of the courses offered by each of the universities. Universities with keywords appearing in their program were noted; courses with keywords and the number of times these keywords appear for each university were also noted.

2.7. Analysis

In this study, contextual content analysis was adopted using an Excel spreadsheet. The course content for each university was contextually searched for keywords. The identified keywords were recorded and analyzed on an Excel spreadsheet, and the findings were summarized for each university. The number of keywords appearing in each course description was obtained. The number of times each keyword appears in the university curriculum was also obtained, as well as the total number of times each keyword appears in all university curricula. The outcome of the analysis is shown in the Results section.

3. Results

3.1. Number of Keywords in the Curricula

Of the 62 keywords adopted for the study, only 16 keywords were found within the course components of the accounting curricula, meaning that 46 keywords did not occur anywhere in these curricula. These 16 keywords occurred 194 times in the context of sustainability throughout all curricula.

Out of the 273 universities in Nigeria (62 federal universities, 63 state universities, and 148 private universities), 76 universities (22 of which are federal universities, 21 are state universities, and 33 are private universities) were selected due to the availability of information and curricula. This is the study sample. Out of the 76 universities studied, keywords only appeared in the curricula of 25 of them. Of the 194 keywords that occur, the most common were ‘environmental’, occurring 102 times throughout the curriculum; ‘sustainability’, occurring 34 times; and ‘social’, occurring 4 times throughout the curricula; see

Table 3. Most common keywords in the universities’ curricula.

Keywords	No of Times
Environmental	102
Sustainability	34
Social	4

Source: Field survey, 2025.

.

3.2. Courses with the Most Keywords

The courses with the most number of keywords include Corporate Reporting (50), Environmental Accounting (45), Introduction to Environmental Accounting (18), Management Accounting (16), Corporate Governance and Accounting and Ethics (13), and Advanced Financial Accounting and Corporate Reporting (12); see

Table 4. Courses with the most keywords.

Courses	Number of Times Keywords Occur
Corporates reporting	50
Environmental accounting	45
Introduction to environmental accounting	18
Management accounting	16
Corporate governance and accounting and ethics	13
Advanced financial accounting and corporate reporting	12

Source: Field survey, 2025.

.

3.3. Universities with the Most Keywords

Of the 25 universities with keywords in their curriculum, 9 are federal, 4 are state, and 12 are private, and the universities with the most keywords are Crescent University, Adeleke University, Bayero University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and Alvan Ikoku University, see

Table 5. Universities with the most keywords.

University	Number of Times Keywords Occur
Crescent university	17
Adekunle Ajasin university	17
Bayero university	16
Nnamdi Azikiwe university	15
Alvan Ikoku university	14

Source: Field survey, 2025.

.

3.4. Sustainability Integration in the CCMAS

The analysis of the CCMAS shows that only four keywords occurred throughout the courses, which are supposed to provide 70% of the curriculum in all Nigerian universities.

The keywords “environmental”, “sustainability”, “social”, and “corporate reporting” are the only keywords that occur just once throughout the curriculum. These four keywords appear in the Corporate Reporting course (1 course out of the 21 courses in the curriculum).

4. Discussion

4.1. The Current State of Sustainability in Accounting Education in HEIs in Nigeria

This study’s findings indicate a very low level of sustainability integration in HEIs in Nigerian universities. The accounting courses at these Nigerian universities do not differ greatly, though some universities have additional courses.

Only 25 out of 76 included universities feature sustainability keywords in their curriculum. This is an indication of a low level of integration. This finding is in line with those of Alvarez Risco et al. [18] and Al Hazaima et al. [25], who found a very low level of student exposure to sustainability education. This study identified only 16 out of 62 keywords (25.8%). The number of courses at each university with sustainability keywords ranges from 1 to 4 of the average of 25 courses typically found in most universities. This outcome aligns with the work of Khan [53], who found that accounting education does not actively address the sustainability concept, and is in line with the findings of Waybrecht [19], who found that schools are aware of the SDGs but have not integrated them into their academic programs. This opposes the view of Saysie [26], who suggests that accounting education should evolve as organizational processes evolve. This study’s outcome does not suggest that accounting education in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Nigeria is evolving in line with organizational processes. With the noted deficiency, accounting graduates are not able to develop opinions on sustainability. This poor level of integration may undermine the nation’s sustainable development effort as a whole, as critical contributors (accountants) are not adequately engaged at the learning stage.

4.2. Adopted Pedagogy

This study identified only 15 courses in which the keywords occurred, with 6 courses having the most frequently occurring keywords (only including accounting courses). The implication here is that very few courses incorporate sustainability concepts, and students are not engaging adequately with sustainability. However, this method of integration aligns with that observed in previous studies [7,31,32,33] on the pedagogical style of integrating sustainability into accounting education. These studies supported the integration of sustainability into existing courses, rather than teaching it as a standalone course. However, other studies support other pedagogical styles. Martinez-Bravo et al. [13] found support for experiential learning, active learning, on- and off-campus promotion of student leadership, and professional knowledge and experience transfer. Rodriguez and Gomez et al. [36] argued that the ethical and CSR information received in the courses is insufficient to impact the student’s economic vision while studying at an HEI. There is a clear indication of a dire need for the accounting curricula in Nigerian universities to undergo fundamental change to thoroughly integrate sustainability into their curricula, as suggested in earlier studies [1,30]. More courses should discuss sustainability (and the various aspects of the 17 SDGs) to ensure that HEIs provide a learning environment [8] and that students benefit from learning about sustainability [29].

4.3. Integrating Sustainability into Accounting Education

The results of this study also show that sustainability has not been reasonably considered and integrated into the new curriculum CCMASS, with just four keywords occurring in only one course. This implies that sustainability concepts are not adequately taught in HEIs in Nigeria. This poor integration of sustainability into the new CCMASS projects the profession as less relevant to sustainability development. As a new curriculum, more should have been done to integrate sustainability into accounting education. There is a clear absence of a framework that will drive the integration of sustainability into the curriculum [13]. This outcome aligns with the findings of Yadav and Prakash [41], who found that insufficient awareness and a lack of support from regulatory bodies will affect the integration of sustainability into educational programs. The absence of sustainability keywords in the CCMASS shows that there is a low level of support for integrating sustainability into accounting education from the regulatory body. The implications of our findings contradict the position of Cooray et al. [7], who found that successful integration of sustainability into academic programs is driven by interested individuals and not policy implementation. The implications of our findings align with those of other works that support the critical role of regulatory support for successful integration. Waybrecht [19] and Memon and Suresh [39] attributed the successful integration of sustainability into accounting education to regulatory changes and accreditation frameworks. Aung and Hallinger [40] also found that transforming university practice through the reorientation of the university mission and guidance will promote the integration of sustainability into accounting education. As CCMASS is a new program, the SDG concept should have been better incorporated. This outcome leaves a huge task for other stakeholders in pushing for the integration of sustainability in accounting education, as suggested by Cooray [7].

5. Conclusions

This study provides insights into the extent to which sustainability is integrated into accounting education in Nigerian higher education institutions by examining the accounting courses offered by Nigerian universities and the components of these courses. This study found a very low level of integration of sustainability into accounting curricula in Nigerian universities. These findings show that accounting education in Nigerian universities is yet to align with programs aimed at achieving the ‘Agenda’. Accountants are under pressure to contribute to the SDG agenda; through the critical and interdisciplinary skills they must develop. this requires strong collaboration between various quarters and stakeholders. Very importantly, regulatory authorities, for instance, the NUC, must keep ahead of the global trends and are therefore key into global best practices. The very low or almost non-integration of sustainability into the new CCMAS for accounting education indicates non-compliance with global best practices and non-recognition of the accountant’s role in achieving the SDGs. Other key stakeholders in the integration of sustainability into accounting education are accounting educators, professional accounting bodies, regulators, and standard setters. There must be adequate collaboration among these groups.

Professional accounting bodies and practitioners can also collaborate to drive this integration firstly by adapting the professional accounting curriculum, as the universities will most likely mirror the professional accounting programs. Higher education institutions must cultivate a culture of sustainability, as this will help set the tone university-wide, thereby creating more awareness. With adequate awareness, accounting educators can begin to personally integrate sustainability into their courses.

Globally, there are increased calls for higher disclosure (Nigeria recently passed the Climate Change Act), and with increased disclosure requirements, accountants must be well equipped to take up an expanded role. This study contributes to the literature on education and the agenda for sustainable development. It shows that change is needed if the accounting curriculum is to keep pace with sustainable development and highlights the need to develop a framework for integrating sustainability into accounting education, especially in the changing economy, given the significant role education plays in transitioning to more sustainable development and accountants’ role in achieving the SDGs.

This study supports SDG 4 quality education as it focuses on ensuring that HEI provides quality education that will equip the coming generation who will drive the sustainability Agenda. The study also supports SDG 12 responsible consumption and production. SDG 12 will be promoted through the analytical and sustainability reports produced by accountants, which will push organizations’ to be more compliant with SDG 12.

5.1. Pedagogical and Policy Implications

The results of this study highlight the need for higher education to be more proactive and ensure that sustainability is integrated into the curricula of critical areas of education, such as accounting education. Accounting educators may utilize innovative teaching methods to integrate sustainability into their delivered content. Online materials on sustainability can be explored and used for teaching, as can knowledge sharing and collaboration with experts. Experiential learning, which provides internship opportunities focusing on sustainability, can provide adequate exposure. The results of this study are a wakeup call for stakeholders in higher education institutions and accounting professionals, emphasizing the urgency of integrating sustainability into the accounting curriculum. Stakeholders can contribute by researching sustainability accounting and reporting, as well as promoting collaboration with industry experts. University authorities could sponsor research in sustainability education, and capacity-building programs should be organized to equip faculty members. These efforts will contribute to enabling accountants to remain relevant in the ever-evolving society in the context of the new model of sustainable development.

The results of this study highlight the need for regulatory bodies and governments to develop standards that mandate accounting institutions to integrate sustainability into accounting education. Voluntary compliance may not lead to the required level of integration. The CCMASS should be revised to incorporate sustainability, mainly because it accounts for 70% of the curriculum of all universities in Nigeria.

5.2. Limitations and Further Studies

This study has some limitations, which may provide opportunities for further study. This study is based solely on publicly available course contents. Some university websites do not provide their curriculum online and were not able to provide it when contacted. In addition, the sample of this study may have been biased, and as such, the outcome of this study may not be accurately generalized. It was assumed in this study that the curricula represent what the higher education institution teaches. However, these educators could still voluntarily integrate sustainability aspects into their teaching. This presents an area for further study, where stakeholders could be interviewed to assess their perception of the integration of sustainability into accounting education. When using keywords for content analysis, the cultural perspectives of sustainability terminologies were not considered. Research could be conducted to understand the cultural context of sustainability and whether this has been considered in developing the accounting curricula of HEIs in Nigeria. The contextual word search was based only on accounting courses; some inappropriately categorized accounting courses may have been missed. Therefore, a study analyzing the courses offered by accounting students would be worthwhile. This study could also be expanded by looking at postgraduate accounting programs to determine if sustainability is integrated at a higher level, as opposed to the undergraduate level, in Nigerian HEIs.