What are recommended accounting textbooks teaching students about corporate stakeholders?

This paper reports the results of a content analysis of the preface and preliminary chapters of 21 introductory accounting textbooks as recommended by 12 accounting degree-awarding institutions in Scotland. The investigation builds on previous research which suggests that accounting education is heavily influenced by neo-classical economic theory and, as a consequence, inculcates students with the notion that primacy should be given to shareholders above all other stakeholder groups. Accounting education may be deficient by neglecting other theoretical perspectives and marginalising the interests of other stakeholder groups; arguably this may inhibit the ethical development and critical awareness of accounting students. This research investigates the extent to which recommended accounting textbooks explicitly consider different stakeholders. Findings from the study indicate that the interests of shareholders are predominant within financial accounting and financial management textbooks, while management accounting texts have a more pronounced managerial orientation.