An Accountant’s Case Against Merging The Accounting Major With STEM Education

Authors

Harvey Gilmore B.S., M.S., J.D., LL.M (General Business), LL.M. (Taxation)

First & Last Page

135-153

Abstract

As many of us know, “STEM” is the acronym for academic programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Over the last couple of years, two House Resolutions have sought to adopt the accounting major into the STEM family: the Accounting STEM Pursuit Act of 2021, and the Accounting STEM Pursuit Act of 2023. The Senate has also introduced similar legislation, the STEM Education in Accounting Act of 2021.I was a practicing accountant for nearly ten years, with my area of specialization being in tax, which I have taught for nearly twenty-six years now. I also went to a STEM high school, and while I did not fail every STEM class under the sun, I admittedly did not pass too many STEM classes, either. Also, to my admitted discredit, I did not do well in my STEM high school and eventually flunked out. Here’s my litany of STEM failures: Physics, Structural Design (twice), Patternmaking (Wood Shop), Geometry, and Trigonometry (twice).That said, even if I had somehow scored passing grades, let alone straight A’s in those classes, I am wholly unconvinced that merging Accounting classes into the STEM family of classes is somehow viable. I am not sold on this idea, and I admit to perhaps being a lone “voice in the wilderness” with this opinion. While I would certainly welcome a response to this piece, just the same, I state my reservations below

Recommended Citation

Harvey Gilmore B.S., M.S., J.D., LL.M (General Business), LL.M. (Taxation), An Accountant’s Case Against Merging The Accounting Major With STEM Education, 11 Lincoln Mem’l U. L. Rev. (2024).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/lmulrev/vol11/iss3/4