No abstract

The first year intake of accounting students at Auckland University and the three technical institutes that serve the Auckland region were surveyed to find out: what characteristics differentiate university and technical institute students; their reasons for choosing to major in accounting; their perceptions of their own course and institution vis‐á‐vis the alternative course and institution; and the relative importance of family, friends and school personnel as influences on their choice of tertiary education. In general, university accounting students are significantly older (due mainly to the fact that university students tend to remain longer at secondary school), are better qualified academically and come from families higher on the socioeconomic scale. It was also found that university students perceive their course to have higher status, while stated reasons given by technical institute students revolve around the practicability and vocational orientation of the course. Parents, particularly father, and friends exert far more influence on educational and vocational decision‐making than any other source, including school personnel.