Accounting curricula and students’ future intentions to engage in sustainability accounting and reporting

This study investigates how religiosity moderates the relationships between Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the psychosocial factors (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control) shaping students’ intentions to engage in sustainability accounting and reporting (SAR). Guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Social Norm Theory, the study employs a qualitative research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with final-year undergraduate accounting students at six universities in Ghana. The findings indicate that ESD primarily shapes perceived behavioural control, yet its largely theory-driven delivery limits students’ self-efficacy in applying IFRS S1 and S2 in practice. In contrast, attitudes and subjective norms were not strongly derived from classroom learning but were instead informed by personal values, professional expectations, and broader social influences. Religiosity did not emerge as a direct predictor of intention. Rather, it functioned as a contextual moderator that conditioned how strongly favourable attitudes and perceived social expectations were translated into intention. This study contributes to accounting education literature by clarifying how self-efficacy operates as a core dimension of perceived behavioural control within the TPB. It further theoretically positions religiosity as a moderating influence that strengthens the attitude-intention and subjective norm – intention pathways in culturally embedded settings.