Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Accountant as a Career Choice from The Perspective of Secondary School and Undergraduate Accounting Students in Malaysia

Haslinah Muhamad, Ong Tze San San, Soh Wei Ni, Aliffatur Radiah Binti Safingi

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i10/7991

Open access

This study examines the perception of accounting students in Malaysia towards the accounting profession and whether these perceptions are influenced by the gender and student categories (secondary school and undergraduates). This study was a cross-sectional survey of 156 undergraduate accounting students from School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and 115 secondary school accounting students from Sekolah Agama Menengah Tinggi Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (SAMTTAR). A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to collect primary data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, and Mann-Whitney test through SPSS 22. The results of this study show that, generally, female respondents have higher perception on accounting job requirement and reputation compare to male respondents. Additionally, undergraduate students have a higher perception on the accounting job requirement and negative behaviour of accountant compare to secondary school student. This research contributes to the academic debate surrounding the concerns of the future of accounting profession. It also provides an idea to the accounting regulatory body, professional accounting bodies, and educators as well other stakeholders to look on the job requirement and improvement on the negative image of accountant for the benefit of the profession in Malaysia.

Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. (2012). The National graduate employability blueprint 2012-2017. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
Akosah-Twumasi, P., Emeto, T. I., Lindsay, D., Tsey, K., & Malau-Aduli, B. S. (2018). A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Youths Career Choices—the Role of Culture. Systematic Review , 58; 1-15 .
Allen, P., Bennett, K., & Heritage, B. (2014). SPSS Statistics Version 22 : A Practical Guide. Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pity Limited.
Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., & Robson, K. (2005 ). "Helping them to forget..": the organizational embedding of gender relations in public audit firms. Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 30, issue 5, 469-490.
Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. (2019). 2019 Trends in the supply of accounting graduates and the demand for public accounting recruits. Durham, New York: Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
Bakar, A. R., Mohamed, S., Suhid, A., & Hamzah, R. (2014). So you want to be a teacher: what are your reasons? . International Journal of Educational Studies, 7, 155.
Blanco, Á. (2011). Applying social cognitive career theory to predict interests and choice goals in statistics among Spanish psychology students . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 49–58.
Bolton, S. (2010). Career motivation theory: Generational differences and their impact on organizations. Walden University.
Bossman, I. (2014). Educational Factors that Influence the Career Choices of University of Cape Coast Students. Retrieved from Bossman, Ineke,
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2420846
Burke, S., & Collins, K. M. (2001). Gender differences in leadership styles and management skills . 16(5), 244–256.: Women in Management Review .
Carmona, S., & Ezzamel, M. (2016). Accounting and lived experience in the gendered workplace. . Accounting, Organizations and Society, 49(2), 1–8.
Carpenter, C. G. (1970). Job Selection Preferences of Accounting Students. Journal of Accountancy, 84-86.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality’s Definitional Dilemmas. The Annual Review of Sociology, 41:1–20.
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Scribne.
Dalci, I. A. (2013). Factors that influence Iranian students’ decision to choose accounting major. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 3(2), 145-163.
DaRin, B. (2017). The Perceptions of Accounting:What Do You Think? Rhode Island, United States: Bryant University.
Edwards, K., & Quinter, M. (2011). Factors influencing students career choices among secondary school students in Kisumu municipality, Kenya. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 2, 81–87.
Germanou, E. H. (2009). Students’ perceptions of accounting profession: Work value approach. Asian Review of Accounting, 17(2), 136-148.
Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology. Oxford: Polity Press.
Gokuladas, V. K. (2010). Factors that influence first-career choice of undergraduate engineers in software services companies: a South Indian experience . Career Development Institute, 15, 144–165.
Guan, Y., Chen, S. X., Levin, N., Bond, M. H., Luo, N., & Xu, J. (2015). Differences in career decision-making profiles between american and chinese university students: the relative strength of mediating mechanisms across cultures. . Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46, 856–872.
Haden, J. (2020). New Harvard Research Reveals a Sad Truth: Men Are Still More Likely to Get Promoted When They Schmooze, but Women Are Not. United States: Inc. 5000.
Hair, J. J. (2007). Research methods for business. Chichester: John Willey & Sons Ltd.
Howlett, D. (2013, June 24). Time to bury the accounting stereotypes. Retrieved from diginomica: https://diginomica.com/time-to-bury-the-accounting-stereotypes
Ibarra, H., Carter, N. M., & Silva, C. (2010). Why men still get more promotions than women. Harvard business review , 88(9):80-5, 126.
International Labour Organization (ILO). (2018, March 8). World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2018 – Global snapshot . Retrieved from refworld.org: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b2a77a14.html
Karakaya, F. Q. (2011). A cross-national investigation of student intentions to pursue a sales career. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(1), 18-27.
Khalid, F. M., Sarani, N. S., Hisam, N. N., Zulkffli, H. S., & Jamalludin, F. A. (2016). Students’ Perception of the Accounting Profession. International Symposium & Exhibition on Business and Accounting 2016 (ISEBA 2016), (pp. 1-7).
Kornberger, M., Carter, C., & Ross-Smith, A. (2010). Changing gender domination in a Big Four accounting firm: Flexibility, performance and client service in practice. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(8), 775–791.
Kunnen, E. S. (2013). The effects of career choice guidance on identity development. Education Research International.
Larson, J. (2010). Malaysia needs 60,000 accountants. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Malaysia.
Latif, M. A., Aziz, M. A., & Ahmed, M. M. (2016 ). Influences of Education on Career Choice: A Study on Sylhet City, Bangladesh . Management Studies and Economic Systems , 211-217.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal Vocational Behaviour, 45, 79–122.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (2000). Contextual supports and barriers to career choice: A social cognitive analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47, 36–49.
Linehan, M., & Scullion, H. (2001). Challenges for female international managers: Evidence from Europe. Journal of Managerial Psychology , 16(3):215-228.
Malaysian Institute of Accountants. (1967 - 2020 ). Accountants Act 1967. Retrieved from Malaysian Institute of Accountant:
https://www.mia.org.my/v2/Membership/services/legislation_details_new.aspx?ID=L13402085G
Mbawuni, J. (2015). Examining Students’ Feelings and Perceptions of Accounting Profession in a Developing Country: The Role of Gender and Student Category. International Education Studies, 10-15.
Miley, F. M., & Read, A. F. (2015). “Broken and mad”: Accounting, shell shock and the British Army medical unit. The 20th Conference on the History of Management and Organisations, (pp. 1914-18). Lille, France.
Mill, J. M. (1869). The Subjection of Women. London: Longmans.
Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2018). Quick Facts 2018 Malaysia Educational Statistics. Putrajaya: Educational Data Sector, Educational Planning and Research Division, Ministry of Educational Malaysia.
Mustapha, M., & Hassan, M. H. (2012). Accounting Student's Preception on Pursuing Professional Examination. International Journal of Education, Vol. 4, 1-15.
Nigel Mathers, N. F. (2006). Surveys and Questionnaires. Sheffield: The NIHR RDS for the East Midlands / Yorkshire & the Humber.
Nyamwange, J. (2016). Influence of students' Interest on Career Choice among First Year University Students in Public and Private Universities in Kisii County, Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice , 7:7.
Oseni, A. I. (2011 ). Unethical Behavior of Professional Accountants in an Organization. Research journal of finance and accounting, 2(2),1-8.
Pazzanese, C. (2020). Women less inclined to self-promote than men, even for a job. The Harvard Gazette.
Pekkarinen, T. (2011). Gender differences in education. Oslo, Norway: Nordic Economic Policy Review Conference.
Peltier, J. W. (2014). A Parsimonious Instrument for Predicting Students’ Intent to Pursue a Sales Career: Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Marketing Education, 36(1), 62-74.
Reiss, S. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teaching of Psychology, 39(2), 152-156.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and new directions. . Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54–67.
Santoreneos, A. (2019). Men with male bosses get promoted quicker than women, study finds. Australia: Yahoo Finance .
Schaefer, R. T. (2007). Sociology. . New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scheuermann, S. B., Finch, J. B., Lecky, M. Y., & Scheuermann, L. (1998). Why women leave public accounting. Business Forum, Los Angeles, Vol. 23, Issue 3-4.
Shoffner, M. F., Newsome, D., Barrio Minton, C. A., & Wachter Morris, C. A. (2015). A Qualitative Exploration of the STEM career-related outcome expectations of young adolescents. Journal of Career Development, 42, 102–116.
Shumba, A., & Naong, M. (2012). Factors influencing students’ career choice and aspirations in South Africa . Journal of Social Science, 33(2): 169-178.
Sugahara, S., & Boland, G. (2009). The Accounting Profession as a Career Choice for Tertiary Business Students in Japan-A Factor Analysis. Accounting Education , 18(3):255-272.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. (2012). Closing the value gap: understanding the accountancy profession in the 21st century. London: The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD). (2020, September 7). Dream Jobs? Teenagers’ Career Aspirations and the Future of Work. Retrieved from OECD Organisation: https://www.oecd.org/berlin/publikationen/Dream-Jobs.pdf
Vaghefi, N. (2018). What Widens the Gender Pay Gap? Penang: Penang Institute.
Vrcelj, G., & Krishnan, S. (2008). Gender Differences in Student Attitudes Toward Engineering and Academic Careers. Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 14, Issue 2.
Wells, P. K. (2015). New Zealand High School Students’ Perception of Accounting: How and Why Those Perceptions Were Formed. Accounting Education, , Volume 24, Issue 6.
Wessels, P. L. (2009). An investigation into students’ perceptions of accountants. Meditari Accountancy Research, 17(1), 117-132.
Wood, J. (2005). Gendered Lives . Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Woodfield, R. (2016). Gender and the achievement of skilled status in the workplace: The case of women leaders in the UK fire and rescue service. Work, Employment and Society, , 30(2), 237–255.
Wu, L. T., Low, M. M., Tan, K. K., Lopez, V., & Liaw, S. Y. (2015). Why not nursing? A systematic review of factors influencing career choice among healthcare students. International Nursing Review, 62, 547–562.

In-Text Citation: (Muhamad, San, Ni, and Safingi, 2020)
To Cite this Article: Muhamad, H., San, O. T., Ni, S. W., and Safingi, A. R. B. (2020). Accountant as a Career Choice from The Perspective of Secondary School and Undergraduate Accounting Students in Malaysia . International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 10(10), 613-636.