The Influence of Introductory Accounting Course Content on Students Choice of Accounting Major in Kenyan Universities

Grace Akinyi Musa

doi:10.7176/jep/11-9-23

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of Introductory Accounting Course content on students’ choice of Accounting Major in Kenyan Universities. Introductory Accounting Course content has been under attack by students in most Universities across the world. The course has been viewed as: difficult to pass, number oriented, not exposing students to practice, comprising of rules and regulations encouraging rot learning and therefore dull and boring. The negative perceptions by students towards the course have led to low uptake of Accounting Major. These facts notwithstanding, research shows that Introductory Accounting Course Content is the foundation on which accounting career is grounded. Students’ should be introduced well to the basics of the course, including the accounting cycle and accounting principles. Mastery of these concepts at the earliest opportunity possible not only heightens the comprehension of the course, but also perfects its application in the business world. This would bridge the mismatch that existed between skills posed by the fresh accounting graduates on entry into the job market and employers requirements and expectations. A descriptive cross sectional Research design was adopted. The study sampled students undertaking Bachelor of Commerce degree in twelve selected Kenyan universities and employed a mixture of purposive and stratified random sampling technique to select the Sample of students from the target population. The study adopted a logistic regression model. The research findings revealed that Introductory Accounting Course had a positive significant influence on students’ choice of Accounting Major in Kenyan Universities. The results can be used to make the course more attractive to students’ which would lead to increase in the uptake of Accounting Major in the universities. The study focused on Introductory Accounting Course content as opposed to other studies that previously focused on other aspects of Accounting Major such as earnings, job market conditions and career opportunities as influencers of career choices in accounting among students in universities. The study’s greatest contribution to the knowledge of accounting has been witnessed in its attempt to address the survival of accounting profession. This include: giving more attention to Introductory Accounting Course content by availing relevant teaching materials, application of appropriate delivery methods and employability of competent Introductory Accounting Course Instructors. Keywords: Introductory Accounting Course Content, Kenyan Universities, Students choice, Accounting Major DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-9-23 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

Highlights

Introductory Accounting Course (IAC) is compulsory to all students in the Schools of Business in most Universities across the world
The findings suggest that performance in Introductory Accounting Course has an influence on students’ choice of Accounting as a Major in Kenyan Universities
The study focused on Introductory Accounting Course as opposed to other studies that hitherto focused on other aspects like earnings, job market conditions and career opportunities as influencers of career choice among students in universities

Summary

Introduction

Introductory Accounting Course (IAC) is compulsory to all students in the Schools of Business in most Universities across the world. The course acts as an eye opener and screening tool into accounting major (Kenyan Universities B.Com syllabi, 2018). Most students in the schools of business in most Universities across the world end up not choosing accounting specialization despite undertaking IAC. The low uptake of Accounting Major pointed out to a serious problem with the content of IAC which needed urgent attention. It is important to note that the Course content of Introductory Accounting Course is grounded on the ten steps of Accounting cycle including: Identification and Analysis of documents; Journalizing Entries; Posting Journal to Ledger; Balancing off of the ledger Accounts; Preparing Unadjusted Trial Balance; Preparing a work sheet; Recording adjusting entries; preparing Financial statements; making Closing entries to ascertain that the accounts balance. The final trial balance is prepared as the provisional ones have been closed only the lasting accounts appear on the closing trial balance to make sure that debits equal credits (Frank & Sangster, 2015; Gupta & Radhaswamy, 2014)

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