The Role of Accounting Education System in the Students' Empowerment with the Mediating Role of Information Technology in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of accounting education system in the students' empowerment with the mediating role of information technology in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The research method was a descriptive correlational study. The research population consisted of full time and adjunct professors in the accounting department of the Universities of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, whose number was estimated at about 250. In this study, convenience sampling method was used. The required data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. Face, content and construct validity were used to assess the validity, as well as Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability were used to assess the reliability of the research measurement tool. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. In this study, empowerment includes five skills: technical and practical, intellectual, personal, communication, and business management. According to the research findings, accounting education system has a positive and significant effect on all five dimensions of empowerment. The extent of its impact on each of the dimensions of empowerment are: intellectual skills (.614), technical skills (.584), personal skills (.505), communication skills (.456) and personal skills (.449). Also, the accounting education system through the information technology has a significant and positive effect on all aspects of empowerment except intellectual skills.