Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of factors that attract university students to the accounting profession in Lebanon using Theory of Planned Behavior. The significance of this study is based on the previous research which has shown that “intrinsic factors” (attitude toward the behavior) and “parental influence” (subjective norms) are significant predictors of career choice of accounting students. Using a very large judgmental sample from business students focusing on accounting, the researchers in this study constructed a reliable and valid instrument having one item measuring intention to pursue accounting career in Lebanon, four items measuring self efficacy, another four items measuring social influence (subjective norms) and five items measuring attitude and behavioral beliefs. The multiple regression analysis retained “Subjective Norms” in the model and removed “Beliefs and Attitude towards Accountant and CPA”, “Self Efficacy”, and “Perceived Behavioral Control”. The current study showed that path analysis was not an acceptable fit of data. All predictors (paths) except the direct effect between “Subjective Norms” and “intention to pursue accounting career in Lebanon” should be deleted from the model. Findings of this study support that Hypothesis 1—Subjective Norms (perceived social pressure to become or not become CPA) will be a significant positive predictor of intention to Pursue a CPA Career. Furthermore, the current study provided implications for policy making and for further research.
Highlights
Studies have shown that over the last decade there has been a decline in the number of students studying accounting in several countries as reported by Albrecht, W.S. and Sack, R.J. [1] in the United States of America, Jackling, B. [2] in Australia, Marshall, R. [3] in United Kingdom; Wells, P. and Fieger, P. [4] in New Zealand and Sugahara, Hiramatsu, & Boland [5] in Japan
Surveying graduate accounting students in Iran showed that students “believe that the shortage of appropriate text books about management accounting, unawareness of management accounting certificates, the shortage of seminars and workshops about management accounting, the existed limitations and barriers to research in the field of management accounting, firms’ disinterest in implementing management accounting new techniques, engaging universities in merely theoretical matters, the absence of sufficient courses about management accounting in universities, journals’ ignorance of management accounting, the absence of sufficient curriculum in universities about management accounting lead to a decrease in students’ interest in management accounting” [7]
Inspecting accounting students in Jordanian universities showed that “Job opportunities and income were the most important factors that discouraged students to be interested in the management accounting profession” [8]
Summary
Studies have shown that over the last decade there has been a decline in the number of students studying accounting in several countries as reported by Albrecht, W.S. and Sack, R.J. [1] in the United States of America, Jackling, B. [2] in Australia, Marshall, R. [3] in United Kingdom; Wells, P. and Fieger, P. [4] in New Zealand and Sugahara, Hiramatsu, & Boland [5] in Japan. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) posited that intention can be used as a proximal measure of behavior and as shown in Figure 1 below conceived intention as being determined by two key factors: attitudes and subjective norms [11]. [11] notes that “The best measure of Subjective Norms ‘is usually obtained by asking respondents to rate the extent to which important others would approve or disapprove of their performing a given behavior’” Further he notes that “Control beliefs may be based in part on past experience with the behavior, but they will usually . [6] who was interested in attracting university students to the accounting profession believes that “Future research should develop the Planned Behavior Theory (PBT)”. This study suggests that the theory of reasoned action offers a useful framework for exploring these issues”
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