Factors Affecting Students' Career Choice in Accounting
American Journal of Business Education – October 2011
Volume 4, Number 10
Factors Affecting Students’ Career Choice In Accounting: The Case Of A Turkish University
Ali Uyar, Fatih University, Turkey Ali Haydar Güngörmüş, Fatih University, Turkey Cemil Kuzey, Fatih University, Turkey
ABSTRACT This study investigates the reasons that influence students’ career choices in accounting. In order to determine these reasons, a questionnaire survey has been employed. The empirical findings can be divided into two categories. First, students who have a desire to work in accounting field assume that accounting field provides good job opportunities, and the field matches with their abilities and interests. Second, students who have no desire to work in the field of accounting assume that other fields provide wider job opportunities and are less stressful, tiring, and tedious. In addition, the association of the factors that play role in choosing or not choosing a career in accounting field with student performance in accounting course is investigated. Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Education; Accounting Career; Performance
INTRODUCTION
I
n recent years, the decline in quantity and quality of student enrollments in accounting majors alerted academicians, professionals, and professional bodies (Mauldin et al., 2000; Nelson, 1989; Adams et al., 1994; Glass and Oakley, 2003; Tan and Laswad, 2006; Smith, 2005; Chen et al., 2002; Garner and Dombrowski, 1997). This led researchers to investigate the reasons regarding career choice in accounting field. Mauldin et al. (2000, p.142) state that the primary objective of accounting programs is to produce a sufficient number of graduates who possess substantial accounting knowledge, with the strong communication and analytical capabilities demanded by employers. In order to meet the demands of employers, accounting programs must graduate the best and brightest students with high aptitudes, but decreasing quantity and quality may
Volume 4, Number 10
Factors Affecting Students’ Career Choice In Accounting: The Case Of A Turkish University
Ali Uyar, Fatih University, Turkey Ali Haydar Güngörmüş, Fatih University, Turkey Cemil Kuzey, Fatih University, Turkey
ABSTRACT This study investigates the reasons that influence students’ career choices in accounting. In order to determine these reasons, a questionnaire survey has been employed. The empirical findings can be divided into two categories. First, students who have a desire to work in accounting field assume that accounting field provides good job opportunities, and the field matches with their abilities and interests. Second, students who have no desire to work in the field of accounting assume that other fields provide wider job opportunities and are less stressful, tiring, and tedious. In addition, the association of the factors that play role in choosing or not choosing a career in accounting field with student performance in accounting course is investigated. Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Education; Accounting Career; Performance
INTRODUCTION
I
n recent years, the decline in quantity and quality of student enrollments in accounting majors alerted academicians, professionals, and professional bodies (Mauldin et al., 2000; Nelson, 1989; Adams et al., 1994; Glass and Oakley, 2003; Tan and Laswad, 2006; Smith, 2005; Chen et al., 2002; Garner and Dombrowski, 1997). This led researchers to investigate the reasons regarding career choice in accounting field. Mauldin et al. (2000, p.142) state that the primary objective of accounting programs is to produce a sufficient number of graduates who possess substantial accounting knowledge, with the strong communication and analytical capabilities demanded by employers. In order to meet the demands of employers, accounting programs must graduate the best and brightest students with high aptitudes, but decreasing quantity and quality may