Ascesa e declino della ragioneria negli insegnamenti universitari

The present work aims to illustrate the long process that brought “Ragioneria” (wide Italian Accounting) to reach an important position in the academic context. Nevertheless, after this phase of absolute relevance, “Ragioneria” has been gradually banished to a subordinate and increasingly marginal role. Until XIX century, “Ragioneria” was mainly considered as a merely applicative discipline. That implied it was “unworthy” to be taught in the academic classes. The affirmation of the industrial revolution, the expansion of the markets and the consequent growth of the corporate complexity, they all encouraged the first forms of activism from the scholars and the practitioners of this discipline. The activism was intended to qualify the education and to gain the legal recognition at the academic rank to the business disciplines, including “Ragioneria”. In the second half of XIX century, the first business colleges were founded, but only in the first years of twentieth century the degrees in business sciences were finally recognized. Since 1935 the academic classes of “Ragioneria” have had a drawing power and they have been considered as fundamental classes. Then, the progressive rise of “Economia Aziendale” (as a unique social science) reduced the role and importance of “Ragioneria”. In a few decades, “Ragioneria” has lost out to other branch disciplines. The last reforms on the Higher Education system and the related specialization and simplification of the classes, they both affected the academic classes of “Ragioneria”. In particular, it was debased and the present classes cannot be compared to those ones characterizing the Economics degree, some decades ago. Presently, “Ragioneria” takes a scarce consideration in most of our Universities: it is taught within limits and it essentially focuses on the very technical aspects. Except a few cases, the modern graduate people do not know “Ragioneria” or they scarcely know its “mechanical” aspects. Nevertheless, “Ragioneria” has to be considered as a fundamental class, in order to understand the following disciplines (included its derivative branches), that are taught farther in the academic programs. Furthermore, “Ragioneria” lacks are constantly criticized when graduate people have a chance of entering the labor market.