Abstract
Recent developments related to non-financial information (NFI) reporting encourage the adoption of a long-term vision approach to sustainable development. In turn, the self-determination theory (SDT) describes which elements explain the students' motivation and how their skills can be better developed from their choices. Using NFI as the subject and the SDT as the theoretical framework, this chapter links both topics aiming to identify the types of students' motivation and for what specific interests are accounting students motivated to learn topics related to NFI. Data were gathered from a questionnaire. The results, using frequency and textual analyses, indicate a higher level of intrinsic motivation. Environmental and social matters are the topics of concern, while governance issues are absent. As an exploratory analysis, this chapter provides insights into how students of an accounting course are motivated to acquire skills in NFI reporting, which is particularly relevant to higher education institutions, professors, students, and organizations related to accountancy education.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Accounting Course: The skills provided by higher education institutions to report, traditionally, financial information and, more recently, non-financial information.
Reporting: The act of giving and/or describing the information.
Extrinsic Motivation: The actions driven by external factors.
Motivation: What drives a person to do something or a certain activity.
Skills: The competence to do something or a certain activity.
Amotivation: The absence of what drives a person to do something or a certain activity.
Intrinsic Motivation: The actions driven by personal interest and/or satisfaction.
Non-Financial Information: Topics that are typically related to the environment and society, more recently known as environmental, social, and governance, thus embracing information on the administration of businesses.