THE ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING TEACHING IN THE BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITIES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Abstract

The objective of this study is to verify the degree of inclusion of Environmental Accounting as a subject in the curriculum of Accounting Sciences undergraduate courses offered by Brazilian universities, the importance of this subject in the coordinators’ view, and possible difficulties for its inclusion in those courses. The adopted methodological procedures consisted of exploratory, bibliographical and field research. Through electronic mail, a questionnaire was sent to coordinators of all the higher education institutions, classified as universities by Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), which offer Accounting Sciences courses. Results obtained in the research have indicated that the subject is offered by a small number of universities. However, most coordinators find this subject important for students’ formation and, according to them, the greatest difficulty in including the subject in the courses of Accounting Sciences lies in the necessary adaptation of the curriculum, so that a series of relevant emerging themes for the accountant’s formation could be taken into consideration. Keywords: Environmental accounting. Teaching. Brazilian universities.