Do American Accounting Students Possess the Values Needed to Practice Accounting?

Abstract

As in other countries, the accounting profession in the United States strives to hire and keep qualified professionals, who possess the technical competence and ethical character essential to accounting practice. The reputation of the profession has been periodically tarnished by a lack of ethical behavior on the part of some Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). This suggests a misfit between those in the profession and the ethical values toward which the profession strives. When CPAs commit unethical behavior, doing so creates a major problem for the profession. Research has shown that the congruity of personal values with organizational values, person–organization fit (P–O fit), is an important factor in the hiring, socialization, and retention of employees. This research compares the personal values of US accounting students with the personal values of leaders in the accounting profession. Personal value priorities were measured with the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). The findings indicated that these samples of accounting leaders (N = 193) and accounting students (N = 516) significantly differed in the priority given to 24 of the 36 personal values. This result suggests a lack of P–O fit between accounting students and the accounting profession. These findings have implications for CPA firms in the United States, specifically with regard to hiring ethically “fitting” staff and fostering an ethical culture in accounting firms.