Accounting as a Choice of Academic Programme: A Comparative Study between Malaysian and Indonesian First-year Under-graduate Accounting Students

Abstract

Although rapid and tremendous economy development worldwide has sparked a massive demand for accountants, developing nations like Malaysia and Indonesia are dearth of this profession. Triggered by this mismatch and emulating variables postulated by Theory of Reasoned Action, the objectives of this study are to decipher intention to choose accounting as academic programme with regards to attitude towards accounting profession and social group influence in Malaysian and Indonesian contexts. A total of 350 Malaysian and 150 Indonesian under-graduate accounting students participated in the study. Data were analysed using Sequential Equation Modelling (SEM) of Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) version three. Results for both nations indicated that the attitude towards accounting programme and social group influence were more likely to affect student's intention to choose accounting as academic programme. The former perceived that the paramount prospect offered by the profession is good long-term income, while the later believed that it is broad job opportunities. Likewise, students for both nations were more likely motivated to comply with the expectations of family, followed by teachers, friends, counsellors and peers. These discoveries provide useful insights for policy makers, accounting professional bodies and higher education to formulate policies exposing students and social groups on the importance of incentives and prospects of the accounting profession. It is hoped that the initiatives will produce many accountants and thus expedites the countries' aspiration of becoming full-developed nations in due time.