Gender differences in accounting education: an undergraduate exploration

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that females are outperforming males in secondary education across a range of subjects. The data in higher education, however, is not so clear-cut. Several studies have been undertaken examining the impact of gender on undergraduate accounting performance, ranging from early year performance to that of later years, with conflicting results. Some of the literature suggests that gender differences are dependent on the type of assessment utilized, reporting that females tend to perform better than males in coursework assessments with the position being reversed for examinations. This paper examines gender differences across several performance measures both prior to and post entry into an Accounting and Finance degree. Data was collected from the population of honours graduates of 1998, 1999 and 2000 (n = 132) on a thick sandwich Accounting and Finance degree at the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. All the data was extracted from student files to develop a multitude of independent performance related variables, categorized into: point of university entry data, early university performance data and final honours year performance data (examined on an individual module basis and also a global coursework and examination performance basis). Statistical differences were examined using a two independent sample technique, whereby the population was categorized by gender into male and female, with either a t-test or Mann-Whitney test being utilized dependent on the distribution of the independent variable. Only two gender differences were found: females outperformed their male counterparts in the first year accounting module and also in the auditing module, which was undertaken via distance learning during the third year of the programme. No gender differences were found in any of the final year modules, and this was also evident in the coursework and examination performance analysis. Single sex focus groups were set up to explore why gender differences were apparent in the auditing module.gender differences, undergraduate performance,

Factors contributing toward student performance in a distance education accounting degree

“…Koh and Koh (1999) found that males performed significantly better than females throughout an accountancy degree programme. Gammie, Paver, Gammie and Duncan (2003) however, found that females outperformed their male counterparts in the first year accounting subject but no gender differences were found thereafter. Other studies reported that after controlling for "academic ability" there was no evidence of gender differences in examination performance (Buckless, Lipe and Ravenscroft, 1991;Keef and Roush, 1997 …”

Identifying the Principal Factors Affecting the Selection of Higher Education Economical Studies in Greece

“…Albrecht and Sack (2001) have also commented on finance as an attractive alternative to accounting. Gammie et al (2003) examined gender differences across several performance measures both prior to and after entering into accounting and finance higher education studies. No gender differences were found in any of the final year modules, and this was also evident in the coursework and examination performance analysis.…”

Determinantes del rendimiento académico de los alumnos de una asignatura de Contabilidad: el caso de la USC

“…Los conocimientos previos en materia contable están relacionados con los resultados académicos futuros en esta misma disciplina (Auyeung y Sands, 1994;Koh y Koh, 1999;Gammie et al, 2003;Gracia y Jenkins, 2003;Tickell y Smyrnios, 2005;Potter y Johnston, 2006). Por su parte, Gammie et al (2003) y Tickell y Smyrnios (2005) señalan que el rendimiento más reciente es el mejor predictor del rendimiento en el curso actual. En nuestro caso y debido a la distribución de las materias en el grado de ADE hemos considerado la nota previa de la materia "Introducción a la contabilidad", que es la primera materia contable a la que el estudiantado se enfrenta en la carrera.…”

“…Algunos estudios sugieren la relación entre el género y el rendimiento en materias de contabilidad, señalando que las mujeres superaban a los varones (Hanks y Shivaswamy, 1985;Carpenter et al, 1993;Gammie et al, 2003;Gracia y Jenkins, 2003). Esto puede ser debido a una mayor aptitud de las mujeres para cursos cuantitativos y por su motivación intrínseca (Tyson, 1989).…”