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Attitudes towards the accounting profession : an Australian perspective

McDowall, Tracey and Jackling, Beverley 2010, Attitudes towards the accounting profession : an Australian perspective, Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 30-49.

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Title Attitudes towards the accounting profession : an Australian perspective
Author(s) McDowall, Tracey
Jackling, Beverley
Journal name Asian Review of Accounting
Volume number 18
Issue number 1
Start page 30
End page 49
Total pages 20
Publisher Emerald Goup Publishing Ltd
Place of publication Bingley, England
Publication date 2010
ISSN 1321-7348
1758-8863
Keyword(s) perception
accountancy
undergraduates
careers
Summary Purpose – This paper aims to examine undergraduate students’ attitudes towards the accounting profession, including accounting as a career, as a discipline, as a profession and perceptions of the work activities of accountants.

Design/methodology/approach – The data set used in this paper was collected via questionnaires. The present study compares several aspects of a prior study of Marriott and Marriott using the Accounting Attitude Scale developed by Nelson.

Findings – Overall, the paper supports the view that exposure to accounting at university does not enhance positive attitudes about accounting as a discipline, but reinforces rule-memorisation, and lack of involvement with conceptual skills or judgement.

Research limitations/implications – The paper only examines students’ attitudes at one point in time and does not attempt to identify whether students’ attitudes change over the period of their study. The paper can only speculate as to why there is a difference between local and international students’ attitude towards the accounting profession. Third, the questionnaire is only administered at one institution. There is a scope to extend this study across institutions as well as conduct a longitudinal study. In order to validate the findings, further research via in-depth interviews with students may help determine the factors that influence students’ attitudes.

Originality/value – The results from this paper are expected to contribute to the body of research by providing accounting educators with insights into how the curriculum may influence students’ attitudes towards the profession, together with implications as to how the profession should be promoted to undergraduate students.
Language eng
Field of Research 150199 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective 970115 Expanding Knowledge in Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
HERDC collection year 2010
Copyright notice ©2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30032613

Document type: Journal Article
Collections: Faculty of Business and Law
School of Accounting, Economics and Finance
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Created: Fri, 11 Feb 2011, 11:06:52 EST by Katrina Fleming