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Applications of Spreadsheets in Education The Amazing Power of a Simple Tool, 2011, 241–260 241 Graduates’ Use of Technical Software in Financial Services Timothy Kyng, 1 Leonie Tickle, 1 and Leigh Wood 2,∗ 1 Department of Actuarial Studies Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia 2 Faculty of Business and Economics Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia CHAPTER 11 ∗ Address correspondence to: Dr. Leigh Wood, Faculty of Business and Economics, Room 714, Bldg. E4A, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia; Tel: (+61) 2-9850-4756; E-mail: leigh.wood@mq.edu.au Abstract: A university education in actuarial studies and related areas prepares graduates for a wide range of careers. This study demonstrates that recent graduates working in the financial services industry make significant use of spreadsheet software. We found that all 76 respondents use spreadsheet software, and more than half spend at least 60% of their time using spreadsheets. Graduates also use a range of statistical, database, mathematical, financial, and actuarial software. This significant time spent in front of the computer has implications for universities wishing to design curriculum to prepare students for careers in the financial services industry. Keywords: technical software usage, financial service. 11.1 Introduction The transition to employment after university study is an area of increasing interest for universities. University degree programs are judged, in part, on the ability of their students to find employment. The Graduate Destination Survey [1] is an Australia-wide survey used to track the employment of graduates six months after they complete their studies. The surveys show that employment in the finance industry is consistently high with good starting salaries. For the continuing success of graduates entering the finance industry, it is important for universities to listen to graduates and their employers to ensure that university learning is appropriate and relevant. Of course, the role of universities is broader than the immediate needs of industry and the needs of a graduate on day one of a position in finance. A university degree prepares graduates for a range of careers over their lifetime, and provides a foundation in the pursuit of learning for its own sake. In Europe, the Tuning Report [2] found high levels of agreement about outcomes between students, graduates and industry, and less agreement with academics. Our study fits into this gap Mark Lau and Stephen Sugden (Eds) All rights reserved – c○2011 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
242 Applications of Spreadsheets in Education The Amazing Power of a Simple Tool Kyng et al. between industry and the curriculum that delivers graduates to industry. Earlier studies [3, 4] found that graduates in the finance industry wanted more learning of software tools at university. In this study we focus on the in-depth use of software in the finance industry to enable universities to ascertain the potential benefits of including such software in the curriculum. We investigate the use of software by recently hired graduates working in the areas of banking, finance, insurance, and financial risk management. 11.2 Background The use of software in university education can serve two purposes: it can enhance learning of concepts; and it can familiarize students with specific software that they will later use in their working lives. Recent research points to the effectiveness of software in achieving the first of these aims – enhancing student learning. Wagner [5] observed significant improvements in problem-solving across several numeric tasks among engineering students exposed to Excel and related programs. Johnson [6] claims that use of spreadsheets facilitates hypothesis testing, the investigation of variants and algebraic reasoning. A significant amount of literature suggests that spreadsheets allow users the opportunity to increase the scope of their respective roles. Holton [7] suggests that such applications allow users to recognize patterns “if they are not tied down with interminable calculation that they may or may not do correctly.” Although he particularly discusses integrating spreadsheet applications into tertiary mathematics education, there is certainly scope to transfer the concept to the financial sector and the role of financial graduates. Similarly, Lavicza [8] points out that “computers were originally invented to enhance and accelerate tedious mathematical operations” and Forster [9] adds that “passing mathematics processing to a technology allows students to focus on mathematics properties and relationships, provided that technical expertise is in place.” Togo and McNamee [10] concur, pointing out that spreadsheets allow users the opportunity to master “the problem process rather than obtaining a solution to a specific problem.” Marriott [11] also emphasizes that the “integrative use of spreadsheets as a computational tool serves to focus on higher-level learning skills.” The second purpose of the use of software in university education – to provide students with specific software that they may later use at work – has not been comprehensively studied across all areas of the financial sector. The majority of studies are of accounting graduates with very few studies of graduates in finance: the literature is reviewed in the following sections. While there is some overlap in the use of technical software, industry specific studies, such as the one reported in this chapter, are of more assistance in designing curricula for graduates moving into specialized industries. Spreadsheets are the most common application used by recent graduates in the financial sector. This has been true for a number of decades, even while we have seen accounting information systems “undergo extensive change in the past 35 years” [12]. Waller and Gallun’s study of 36 accounting organizations in 1985, including the ‘big eight’, discovered a “predominance of spreadsheet applications” being used in the financial sector (cited in [13]). Almost 15 years later, just before the turn of the millennium, “spreadsheets remain at the forefront of accountancy work practices and are used on a daily basis by most accountants” [14]. Recently, Kyng and Taylor [4] report
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