What Influences Accounting Students' Attitudes Towards Accounting as a Profession?

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McDowall, Tracey and Jackling, Beverley (2009) What Influences Accounting Students' Attitudes Towards Accounting as a Profession? In: 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference, 6-8 July 2008, Sydney, Australia.

Abstract

Several issues have been linked with the choice of an accounting major, and more specifically choice of accounting as a career path, including perceptions of the professional attributes required of accountants. The present study addresses two main themes: undergraduate students’ perceptions of the accounting profession and influences on decision to major in accounting. The study is motivated by the prior research of Marriott and Marriott (2003) that indicated exposure to accounting studies has a negative effect on attitudes towards the profession. The results show that students’ perceptions of the profession related to work activities and prestige of the profession. Further analysis examining the influences on choice of an accounting major revealed three major factors: intrinsic interest in the content of accounting courses, influences of parents and friends together with perceptions of job status of accounting related to career advancement and salary. When compared with the Marriott and Marriott (2003) study, the present study showed students had more positive attitudes to studying accounting. There were however significant differences between local and international students in attitudes to the accounting profession.

Item type Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/6703
Official URL http://www.afaanz.org/openconf/2008/openconf.php
Subjects Historical > FOR Classification > 1303 Specialist Studies in Education
Historical > FOR Classification > 1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability
Historical > FOR Classification > 1503 Business and Management
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > Faculty of Business and Law
Current > Division/Research > Other
Keywords ResPubID18668, perceptions, accounting major, accounting profession
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