GAP IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION IN ACCOUNTING CAREER: UiTM VS AFFILIATED COLLEGES

Transcription

1 GAP IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION IN ACCOUNTING CAREER: UiTM VS AFFILIATED COLLEGES BIRO PENYELIDIKAN DAN PERUNDINGAN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN MALAYSIA BY: AFIZAH HASHIM ERLANE K. GHANI JAMALIAH SAID NORAINI MOHD NASIR SEPTEMBER 2003

2 BRC RESEARCH REPORT GAP IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION IN ACCOUNTING CAREER: UiTM VS AFFILIATED COLLEGES BY: AFIZAH HASHIM ERLANE K. GHANI JAMALIAH SAID NORAINI MOHD NASIR 2003

3 Tarikh : 15 September 2003 No. Fail projek : Prof. Dr. Azni Zain Ahmed Penolong Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan) Biro Penyelidikan dan Perundingan (BRC) UiTM Shah Alam Prof. LAPORAN AKHIR PENYELIDIKAN "GAP IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION IN ACCOUNTING CAREER: UiTM VS AFFILIATED COLLEGES Merujuk kepada perkara di atas, bersama-sama ini disertakan 3 (tiga) naskah laporan akhir penyelidikan bertajuk "Gap in students' perception in accounting career: UiTM vs Affiliated Colleges" untuk rekod BRC. Sekian. Terima Kasih Yang Benar, Afizah Hashim Ketua Projek Penyelidikan

4 KUMPULAN PENYELIDIK AFIZAH HASHIM KETUA PENYELIDIK ERLANE K. GHANI AHLI PENYELIDIK JAMALIAH SAID AHLI PENYELIDIK NORArNI MOHD NASIR AHLI PENYELIDIK

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thank you to the Bureau of Research and Consultancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA for funding this research. Thank you also to the Head and Coordinator of Unit Penyelidikan dan Perundingan, Education Development Centre, for their support and encouragement. We would also like to say our appreciation to all our research assistants for their services and patience. Without them, the research would have taken longer to complete. To our family members, thank you for your patience and understanding throughout the research period. To all the lecturers at the Faculty of Accountancy, UiTM Shah Alam and at the various Affiliated Colleges in the Klang Valley, we appreciate your assistance in the distribution and collection of the questionnaires for this study. Lastly a heartfelt thank you to all others who have directly or indirectly contributed to the completion of this research. vi

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement vi List of Tables ix ABSTRACT 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Accounting Profession Affiliated Programs Significance of Study Objectives of Study Organization of the Report 5 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Accounting As A Study Major And Career Market's Expectation on Accounting Graduates Factors Influencing Career Choice Students' Expectation on Accounting Career 11 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction Research Design Sample Selection Construction of Questionnaire Statistical Design 15 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Demographic Profile 4.3 Career Choice, Exposures and Influence 4.4 Reasons for Studying Accounting 4.5 Intention to Pursue Professional Qualification 4.6 Starting Salary And Other Factors Important to the Accounting Profession 4.7 Comparison of Current Study with Previous Research

7 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH 5.1 Conclusion Future Research 37 REFERENCES 39 viii

8 LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page Table 1 Enrolment Of First And Final Semester DIA Students In The Affiliated Colleges In Klang Valley (December April 2002) 14 Table 2 Demographic Profile 18 Table 3 Most Preferred Career By Location And Semester Of Study 19 Table 4 Most Preferred Career By Semester Of Study -Overall 20 Table 5 Career Exposure Encountered Most before Entering The 21 Institution Table 6 Career Exposure Encountered Most At The Institution 22 Table 7 Person Responsible In Prompting Career Decision 23 Table 8 Main Reason For Studying Accounting 25 Table 9 Intention To Pursue Professional Qualification 26 Table 10 Intention To Pursue Professional Qualification Overall 28 Table 11 Cross-tabulation Of Intention To Pursue Professional Qualification 28 With CGPA Table 12 Expected Starting Salary for Fresh Graduates 30 Table 13 Mean Scores And Test Values For Important Factors 32 Table 14 Respondents' Opinion On Essential Qualities Of An Accountant 34 Table 15 Respondents' Opinion On The Accountant's Prospect 35 Table 16 Institution Provides Adequate Knowledge 36 Table 17 Comparative Ranking Of Top 5 Criteria For Choosing Accountancy As A Career 36 ix

9 BRC Report GAP IN STUDENTS' PERCEPTION IN ACCOUNTING CAREER: UiTM VS AFFILIATED COLLEGES ABSTRACT The general belief is that the accounting profession offers high financial rewards and is one of the prestigious professions in Malaysia. The Enron debacle or the collapse of Australia's HIH Insurance may have put a dent in the public image of the profession. This paper aims to look at how the students undertaking the Diploma in Accountancy programs in Universiti Tekologi MARA (UiTM) and its Affiliated Colleges perceived accounting as a career and the level of starting salary they expect from this profession. The paper also aims to identify the factors that the students felt as important to the profession. 484 questionnaires were distributed to the Diploma in Accountancy students at UiTM Shah Alam campus and Affiliated Colleges in the Klang Valley. The response rate was 72.1%. The results of this study showed that there is a significant difference in the choice of career between the two groups of students. UiTM students mainly prefer to hold a management position (32.3%) whereas the Affiliated College students would like to become public accountants (34.1%). However, both groups agree that the starting salary for an accountant should be between RM1001 to RM2000 per month. They also agree that salary is an important factor in the accounting profession, followed by job responsibilities and job satisfaction. i

10 BRC Report CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Accounting Profession There has been a tremendous change in the development of the accounting profession. The change has been spurred by changes in the competitive and technological environment. Thus, there is a great need for the accountants to keep up. The profession is entering a new era with new expectations of those entering it. To meet the new challenges, the accounting educational process and the competency this process cultivates in accounting students should be parallel with the changes in the accounting profession. The need to keep pace with the business environment has long been recognised by many accounting educators (Deppe, Sondreggar, Stice, Clark, and Streuling, 1991; Dezoort, Lord, and Cargile, 1997). Subsequently, apart from ensuring that the accounting students are armed with a broad array of skills and knowledge, the educational process should also expose these students to the boundless career opportunities that they now have ahead of them. In Malaysia, accounting courses are becoming more popular. This could be due to the aspects of the changing Malaysian economic environment where there has been a broadening of the industrial and service sector (Malaysian Second Plan 1971). This, in turn, leads to an increasing demand for accountants among other skilled human resources. Furthermore, the nature of the training as well as the work of accountants is another probable contributing factor to its frequency of preference. The work does not demand physical ability. Moreover, the different types of certification of professional accountants provides for entry training at different levels of educational attainment. This is in line with the increased educational opportunities and the change in the attitude of students. This, in turn, has led to an increase in career consciousness among students. It is believed that students perceived accounting career as highly rewarding in terms of finance and status. It is also believed that students' expectations arise primarily from their 2

11 BRC Report collegiate experiences. Nonetheless, what the students' perceived may be quite different from the reality. Therefore it is crucial that these students have a substantial and more realistic understanding of what the accounting profession has in store for them and also the career opportunities available to them. 1.2 Affiliated Programs UiTM is the first institute of higher learning (IHL) to offer an accounting course at the diploma level. The Diploma in Accountancy was introduced in 1967 (Takiah M. I., Syed Mohd Ghazali Wafa S. A. W., and Selamat K., 2002). In 1996, several private colleges were allowed to offer the course to bumiputera students under an Affiliated Program agreement with UiTM. Affiliated program, in the context of (UiTM), is where private Institutions of Higher Learnings (IHLs), or private colleges, offer the University's programs. UiTM, then called Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM), started the affiliated program in 1992 with 7 private colleges running a foundation course called Pre-Science (Azni Zain, A., 1994) The rationale behind this Program was to provide as many opportunities as possible to bumiputera students to continue their studies to the tertiary level. As ITM ran out of space, the alternative was to allow private colleges to offer certain courses under strict supervision. These colleges are known as Affiliated Colleges. To date, there are 19 Affiliated Colleges all over the country offering 16 UiTM courses including the Diploma in Accountancy. To maintain the quality of the programs, the University established the Affiliated Programs Unit (APU) as the administrative centre for the Program. The Centre has put in place several quality assurance procedures which includes, amongst other things: i. Ensuring that the syllabus used by the Affiliated colleges is the one given by the University. ii. The lecturers teaching at the Colleges have the minimum academic qualification as set by the University. iii. The program is run according to the procedures set by the University. 3

12 BRC Report iv. The students enrolling in the Affiliated Program have the minimum entry requirements for the relevant courses. 1.3 Significance Of Study Upon graduation, UiTM will award the certificates to the Affiliated Program students. Since the certificates do not differentiate between on-campus students and Affiliated Program students, it is important to provide the latter with the same or similar exposures as their on-campus counterparts. Thus, one of the functions of the APU is to assist the relevant faculties of UiTM to conduct workshops and road shows for the Affiliated College students and academic staff. Over the last three years, the APU has assisted the Faculty of Accountancy to conduct talks by faculty lecturers and professional accounting bodies at the Affiliated Colleges to promote the accounting profession and to encourage students to continue their studies into professional qualifications such as the ACCA and CIMA. With similar exposures to accounting as a career, it is expected that the students would perceive the career in a similar way. Therefore, this study aims to examine whether UiTM students and Affiliated College students perceived accounting as a career differently. The findings of this study would be useful to the accounting educators in both UiTM and Affiliated Colleges in reflecting whether they have played a major role in developing the students' understanding and awareness of the accounting profession. This would subsequently enable them to focus on how and what can be done to enhance further their role in preparing the students for the market place. Furthermore, they could look into how the university's curriculum and their activities can be improved to tailor the students to fit in the contemporary environment more easily. The findings of this study would also be useful to the relevant IHLs in formulating strategies to attract high quality students and subsequently produce highly competitive accounting graduates. 4

13 BRC Report 1.4 Obj ectives Of Study The main objective of this study is to identify the difference in the career perceptions between the Diploma in Accountancy students of UiTM and Affiliated Colleges. Specifically, the objectives are: i. to identify the difference in the career perceptions between the first and final semester students of UiTM and Affiliated Colleges. ii. to identify the career exposure encountered by the students at their institutions. iii. to determine the starting salary expected by them when they join the workforce. iv. to examine their intention to pursue professional qualification and v. to identify factors that they perceived as important in the accounting profession. 1.5 Organization Of The Report Chapter two will discuss literature reviews relating to issues in accounting career, students' perceptions on accounting career and practitioners expectations towards accounting graduates. Chapter three describes the research methodology used in this research. Chapter four presents the findings discussion. Finally, chapter five discusses the conclusion to this research and proposals for future research. 5

14 BRC Report CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction In this chapter, literature from prior studies was reviewed covering accounting career, practitioners' expectation on accounting graduates, factors influencing career choice and students' perceptions on accounting career. The literature reviewed would provide a broader understanding of the various aspects to students' perceptions and understanding of accounting career. 2.2 Accounting As A Study Major And Career In the rapidly changing business environment, more and more accountants are being called upon to take assignments that go beyond the traditional accounting framework. The trend today is towards holistic approach to solving problems. Thus, it is imperative that the accountants of the future be equipped to play their role as enlightened decisionmakers in their respective specializations (Manap, S., 1991). The changing demands placed on accountants may have an effect on the popularity of being an accountant as a career. Goon (1975) did a study amongst secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur. She found that accountancy was the most popular career selection among the students. However, a similar study conducted by Rahman M. R. (1975) on rural secondary school students revealed that the most popular high status profession was graduate teachers, followed by economics, engineers and architects. Accountancy as a career does not seem to attract the students. This may due to the lack of exposure to the career and therefore lack knowledge of its prospects. It could also be due to many of the accounting firms in this period of time being situated mainly in the cities. A research done by Juhari Samidi and Tew You Hoo on urban and rural secondary school students in 1995 found that accounting profession was the still the most popular career 6

15 BRC Report choice among the students. The study also revealed that one of the most important reasons for choosing accountancy as a career was because the profession was classified as a high-income job. This result supported the finding of the ealier research conducted by Goon (1975). Many other studies have been done to determine the factors influencing the students' choice of accounting as major of study. Cohen and Hanno (1993) used the cognitive based theory of planned behaviour to predict and explain the choice of accountancy as an academic major. The respondents were divided into two groups i.e accounting and nonaccounting majors. The study concluded that the factors influencing the choice of study majors include workload, skills and background in mathematics, and success in introductory courses. Background in mathematics may be applicable in the Malaysian context as it is one of the core subjects for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. Accountancy represents a skilled profession that does not discriminate against students from the different streams of training (science or art) as long as they have a good command of mathematics. Thus, this helps to increase the popularity of the field as a major of study in this country. However, other skills such as communication skills and decision-making skills are equally important in today's environment because the business world is increasingly placing diverse and heavy demands and expectations on accountants. Hence, the accounting education system in Malaysia must be able to put in place programs that will enable it to produce accounting graduates that will satisfy those needs and be responsive to changes in the business environment. In other words, the system must be able to produce professional accountants (Abdul Samad, A. 1991). 2.3 Market's Expectation On Accounting Graduates There is increasing concern on the part of accounting educators and practitioners to reconcile students' career outlooks and desires with accounting job specifications (Doll, 1983; Reed and Kratchman, 1989). Past research show evidence of significant differences between the perception of students toward the accounting working environment and the 7

16 BRC Report expectations of employers (Reed and Kratchman, 1989; Yunker, Sterner and Costigan, 1986; Davidson and Eterington, 1995). Students' perceptions in relation to desirability and availability of specific structural job attributes influence satisfaction with the work environment. Students tend to see this position as one that maximize the gratification of intrinsic needs. Their expectation is to accept the position they believe will provide them with attributes they consider to be most important. However, their expectation may change after starting a job. According to Lim et al. (1991), future accountants will be obsolete if their education is confined to purely traditional subject matter as the parameters of the accounting profession have expanded and will continue to expand to meet the legitimate needs and aspirations of society for more comprehensiveness and informative financial information. As such, professional accounting education must be reoriented to cope with these developments, with the broadening of educational experiences, superimposed with specialized professional knowledge and imbued with ethics and qualities as well as the commitment of a professional. Therefore, practical training would be a value added activity in the accounting education. Abdul Samad, A. (1991) found practical skills are required of an accountant. It is interesting to note that market survey indicated the preference for the MACPA professionals as compared to the university graduates. This could mean that the market perceives the graduates with practical experience as preferable to mere qualification alone and that human relationship is an essential and integral part of being a professional accountant. However this study also found that the ability to manage both self and other people is important. Therefore, intra and interpersonal skills are also important. With respect to meeting the requirements of employers in the late 1990s, Azim Zaliha, Che Hamidah and Noraini (1996) indicate that other than working experience, the market ranks other variables such as knowledge in computerized accounting, computer literacy and communication skills as major requirements. In this facet, the undergraduates of UiTM (including the Affiliated College students) would definitely comply with these requirements. The diploma program accommodates many of today's market needs. 8

17 BRC Report Besides incorporating the basic technical studies, it encompasses computer studies, and the assignment of several project papers to enhance their computer literacy, reading and communication skills. Furthermore, the graduates are encouraged to present papers with the purpose of inculcating verbal communication skills and develop their personality. From the above studies and the study done by Takiah et al. (2203) on the Malaysian accounting curriculum, it can be seen that accounting education is constantly changing and upgrading its curriculum to enable the accounting graduates to meet the changing demands of the profession. 2.4 Factors Influencing Career Choice There are many factors that affect the career choice of a student. Income, individual personality characteristics, family attributes, economic status and ethnicity of students all have an effect on students' career choice. Furthermore, the social environment and context in which the individual lives such as rural or urban residence, parental pressure, peer group and the socio-economic composition of the community can have also an impact on their choice of careers. There are many studies done over the years that indicate students associate an accounting career with high financial rewards. Evans (1974) concluded from his study that one of the most important factors that influenced the respondents to become chartered accountant was prospect of good future income. Reha and Lu (1985) report that accounting majors identify remuneration as the main reason for choosing this occupation. These were followed by the findings of Haswell and Holmes (1988), Gul et al. (1989) and Horowitz and Riley (1990). In all of the later studies, salary was one of the top three criteria influencing the career decision of accountancy candidates. Earnings potential is perceived to be very good for accountants not only by accounting majors but also to non-accounting majors. Wheeler (1993) found that the business, psychology and education majors perceived accounting as offering higher salaries than a career in marketing, general management, finance and banking. Felton, Buhr and Northey 9

18 BRC Report (1994) focused their study on determining the factors that influence business students who were non-accounting majors to select or reject a career as chartered accountants. They found that the respondents also perceived accountants as having a high earnings potential. A few other studies however, showed different results. Haswell and Holmes (1988) carried out a study on the final semester students from 14 Australian Universities. The study reported that most intending accountants no longer perceived large salary differential across the range of employment options, or at least, such differential enough to have widespread influence. Instead, the respondents perceived work satisfaction, job security and training opportunities as more important There are other studies that found opportunity for advancement considerations also ranked high in influencing the choice of a career in accounting. This factor is listed either as the first or second most important criterion in job selection by accounting students in studies by Barnhart (1971), Trump and Hendrikson (1970), Zikmund, Catalanello and Wegener (1977), and Horowitz and Riley (1990). Shivaswamy and Hanks (1985) reported that job security is ranked first by accounting students in their study. In the study carried out by Recker and Bates (1975), it was found that the intrinsic factors were not the main priority of the job preference characteristics of a chartered accountant. The less emphasized intrinsic factors among the accountants were also reported in the study conducted by Paolillo and Estes (1982). The study compared the career choice decisions of practicing accountants, physicians, lawyers and mechanical engineers. Using a survey approach, respondents were asked at what point in their lives they choose their career and to rate the relative influence on their decision of twelve factors identified from the prior research. These factors include availability of employment, job satisfaction, earnings potential and aptitude for subject matter. It was reported from the findings that availability of employment is the most important factor. Wheeler (1993) reports that students have shared a belief that the supply of jobs in accounting is better than in other areas of business. There are many other studies that 10

19 BRC Report indicate that job availability is weighted heavily in the career decisions of accounting majors. Kochanek and Norgaard (1985), and Cangelosi, Condie and Luthy (1985) all find availability of employment to be the most important factor determining interest in the accounting profession. Gul et al (1989) conducted a survey among the first semester students from four different disciplines of study viz. Accountancy, Engineering, Law, and Medicine. The respondents were asked to rank eleven factors that influenced the choice of their discipline of study. These eleven factors were built from the study conducted by Poalillo and Estes (1982). The result showed that the accountancy students placed a greater emphasis on job satisfactions in their selection of career choice. The findings were further supported by the findings of Horowitz and Riley (1990), where it was reported that job satisfaction was the second most important criterion ranked by the accountancy candidates in choosing their careers. Another study conducted by Poon (1993) also has similar result. The researcher compared the view of the accounting professionals and the first semester accounting graduates. From the study, it was found that both respondents considered job satisfaction as the most valued factor. They also placed other factors such as interest, job responsibilities, status and prestige, and good prospects as important factors in their career decision. 2.5 Students' Expectation On Accounting Career Carpenter and Strawser (1970) conducted a survey on job selection preferences of accounting students among undergraduate students enrolled in the senior level auditing course at the Pennsylvania State University. The students were asked to rank the eleven factors that influenced their job characteristic preferences. From the study, it was reported that the respondents ranked nature of work, opportunity for advancement and starting salary as the three most important characteristics among the eleven job factors. Another interesting finding from this study was that the respondents preferred to work with a local CPA firm as compared to a national firm. 11

20 BRC Report The positive aspects that a local CPA firm provided, as identified by this study, were: a. More job security b. More opportunities to help people c. More prestige within and outside their firm d. More opportunities for independence in thought and action e. More authority in their position. Over the years, the job market for professional accountants has been recognized as very favourable. However, Taylor and Dixon (1979) find that non-accounting students have a more negative image of the accounting profession than do accounting students. Many other studies suggest that many students have a poor image of public accounting as entailing dull work, heavy demands and low starting salaries (Luscombe, 1988, 1989). They report non-accounting students view accountants as more diligent, evasive, dull, methodical, authoritarian, aloof and rigid. A study by Loo and Ho (1995), carried out in Malaysia, also has similar result. The study includes a survey on the perception of accounting by non-accounting students towards the nature of the accountant's job and the profile of an accountant. Their result shows that non-accounting students viewed accountants as too conservative, boring, dull, money oriented and not interested in social function. On the other hand, accounting majors perceive the profession as significantly more satisfying, challenging, and attractive to individuals with a high degree of initiative. 12

21 BRC Report CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter discusses research design, sample selection, construction of questionnaire, and statistical design. 3.2 Research Design This research assesses the perceptions of the accounting students concerning their expectations in the career. Data for the research were collected by means of two methodologies. Primary data were collected through questionnaires that were distributed to the students selected as the sample. Among others, the questionnaire includes the respondents' reason for studying accounting, expectation on the starting salary and perception on the career prospect in the next five years. Open-ended questions were also asked where further clarifications are required. The secondary data were collected from prior research relating to this study. 3.3 Sample Selection 484 questionnaires were distributed to the Diploma in Accounting Students, both in UiTM Shah Alam campus and Affiliated Colleges in the Klang Valley, who were in the first and final semester of study. Based on the enrolment records of the APU (also known as Unit Program Usahasama), there are only four Affiliated Colleges in the Klang Valley offering the DIA program and there were a total of 123 students enrolled in the various colleges for the first semester and 121 students doing their final semester for the December 2001 to April 2002 session (refer to Table 1). In UiTM Shah Alam, there were only 60 students in the first semester and 180 students in the final semester in the same period (Fakulti Perakaunan, 2002). All of the students studying in the Affiliated Colleges and UiTM Shah Alam were selected as the sample for this study. 13

22 BRC Report Table 1: Enrolment Of First And Final Semester DIA Students In The Affiliated Colleges In Klang Valley (December 2001-April 2002) Affiliated College First Semester Final Semester UNIKOP 6 16 Institut Profesional Baitulmal Kolej Yayasan Pelajaran MARA Kuala Lumpur Kolej INPENS Total Source: Enrolmen Program Usahasama Dis Apr 2003, Unit Program Usahasama The questionnaires were given during regular class hour with the help of the teaching lecturers. Out of the 484 questionnaires, 349 usable responses were received, resulting in a 72.1% response rate. Comparisons were made between UiTM and Affiliated College responses on various aspects, inter alia, the career exposures encountered at the IHL, the type of accounting career they prefer most, their intention to pursue a professional qualification, the important qualities to succeed as an accountant, and the important factors for accountants. 3.4 Construction Of Questionnaire The questionnaire for this study was designed using factors adopted from previous research such as Carpenter and Strawser (1970), Paolillo and Estes (1982), Haswell and Holmes (1998), and Gul et al. (1989). This would enable comparison of findings of this study with other studies. The factors selected were modified to suit the Malaysian environment. The questionnaire consists of 3 sections. Section A refers to the students' profiles that include gender, race, age and the institution they were in (Affiliated College or UiTM). 14

23 BRC Report Section B consists of questions on students' choices on various aspects, inter alia, the most preferred career, the type of career exposure encountered in the institution, the intention to pursue a professional qualification, person responsible in choosing career decision, and expected starting salary. In this section, the students were asked to select one response from several alternatives. Section C consists of 2 parts viz. Part I and Part II. Part I consists of questions to assist the researchers to determine their perceptions on the important qualities in achieving the chosen career, important criteria in salary determination, important factors for an accountant, and important skills needed for work performance. In this section, the respondents were asked to rate their responses using a five-point Likert scale based on the following: 1 being "extremely important", 2 being "very important", 3 being "important", 4 being " slightly important" and 5 being "not important at all". Part II represents the final part of the questionnaire. This section attempts to evaluate the respondents' opinion on the essential qualities of an accountant and the accountants' prospect, among other things. In this section, the respondents were again asked to rate their responses using the five-point Likert scale based on the following: 1 being "strongly agree", 2 being "agree", 3 being "neutral", 4 being "disagree" and 5 being "strongly disagree". 3.5 Statistical Design Data processing was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Science software for Windows. Descriptive statistic is used in this research. The data analysis involved pooled-data comparisons on an overall basis and on the responses between the two student groups. Non-parametric tests are used in this study, where relevant. The tests include non-parametric correlation analysis and Mann Whitney analysis. Correlation analysis is used to determine whether there is any relationship or influence between two variables, among other things, between the students' career choice and person responsible in prompting career decision, and between their intention to pursue a professional qualification with the type of career encountered. The Mann Whitney test was used to 15

24 BRC Report make comparisons between UiTM and Affiliated College respondents on various aspects, inter alia, the career exposures encountered at the university, the type of accounting career they prefer most, the intention to pursue a professional qualification, the important qualities to succeed, and the important factors for accountants. 16