The students’ perception of the accountancy profession : how it develops in line with their advancement in their academic studies

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate the students’ perceptions on different aspects of the accountancy profession, namely the accountant’s image, accounting as an area of study and the work of an accountant. Moreover, the research assesses how such perceptions may or may not evolve in relation with the increasing level of education and commencement of work within the industry. DESIGN: A convergent mixed methodology was applied in this study. Qualitative research was used to evaluate data from interviews and facilitate the design of the questionnaire. A questionnaire was then distributed to accounting students ranging from Tertiary level to 5th year University students. A total of 366 responses were gathered and split into two groups. Quantitative methodology was then applied to analyse the results collected. Cronbach’s Alpha, Paired t-tests and Friedman tests were used to analyse whether a significant difference in perception of both student groups emerged. FINDINGS: This study shows that the perceptions which students have of the accountancy profession may only always reflect reality. Furthermore, all the respective tests undertaken resulted in a p-value of less than the 0.05 level of significance, meaning that there is a significant difference in the perception between students who have just recently gotten into accounting, and students who are in their last years of education. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that the perceptions of the accountancy profession that students hold, develop as students further their academic studies VALUE: This study adds to local literature by providing an insight into the perceptions of students regarding the accountancy profession. Several technical recommendations and areas for further research were put forward.