Changes in the attitudes of students re : the accountancy profession

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to assess whether students at University have realistic expectations about the professional reality faced by the accountants in practice and to observe the changes in their attitudes the higher their academic level. The transition from a University student to a professional is often difficult. This difficulty can be attributable to the differences between students' expectations and employment realities. This expectations gap can cause the new employees to become dissatisfied, experience a reality shock and subsequently leave the organization leading to higher staff turnover. The findings of this study are based on two research questionnaires targeted at two different populations, i.e. students and accountants. The results obtained show that on the whole, students became more aware of what the profession entails the higher the academic level and therefore have quite a realistic idea of what to expect in the profession by the time they graduate . However, on certain aspects of the work environment faced by accountants in practice, an expectations gap persists. An effort has to be made by all parties concerned to improve the early employment experience so that this expectations gap is reduced to the minimum. The parties concerned may be faculty members, students and guidance personnel. This may lead to lower turnover rates which will mean lower costs to audit firms.