Increasing the number of black chartered accountants in South Africa: an empirical review of educational issues

Weil, Sidney; Wegner, Trevor

doi:10.1080/096392897331389

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The shortage of accountants is a global issue, and has been reported in various countries including New Zealand (Gill, 2008), UK (Hambly, 2007), Ireland (Accountancy Ireland, 2008), Thailand (Akathaporn et al, 1993), South Africa (Weil and Wegner, 1997), and the USA (Frieswick, 2000;Traster, 2008;Johnson, 2014;Knese, 2014). In Malaysia, the shortage of accountants is a continuous concern (Marzita, 2011;Utusan Malaysia, 2011;Bernama, 2013;Jawing, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

Ahmad

Ismail

Anantharaman

2015

Education + Training

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to study accounting students' intentions to pursue their careers as accountants and modelling this within the context of Malaysian accounting education. Design/methodology/approach -Data were gathered via a questionnaire survey involving undergraduate accounting students. Factor analysis, independent sample t-tests, and multiple regressions were employed. Findings -In total, four findings were derived from this study. First, within the undergraduate accounting programmes, non-commitment towards the accounting profession can still exist. Second, intrinsic interest is a significant predictor of career intentions. Third, the influence of anticipated conflict provides a new finding in relation to accounting students' career intentions. The last finding is concerned with the influence of internship experience on students' career intentions. Research limitations/implications -It was assumed that differences detected between the accounting student cohorts reflect changes over time in students' intentions. Practical implications -Suggestions that have been previously put forward in efforts to market the accounting profession were mainly focused on promoting the extrinsic rewards. However, findings from this study suggested that sole focus on extrinsic rewards is not enough to warrant commitment towards the profession. Instead, marketing efforts should also focus on intrinsic values of the profession.Originality/value -The study has provided evidence that anticipated conflict should be given more attention by accounting researchers. Although students' career intentions seemed to become clearer and more uniform as they progressed with their studies, two issues remain to be addressed by education institutions and accounting professional bodies, namely anticipated conflict and the conduct of internship programme.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

Ahmad

Ismail

Anantharaman

2015

Education + Training

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“…Auyeung and Sands (1997) examined the career choices made by students from Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan by adopting the individualism-collectivism cultural dimension as a means to examine the relative importance of these factors in the selection of accountancy as a career. In the same year, Weil and Wegner (1997) conducted a study on the educational issues that could potentially inhibit the development of black CAs in South Africa. They found that role models were extremely important as a motivational factor for joining the accountancy profession, but that there were few such role models in the black community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An empirical analysis of career choice factors that influence first‐year Accounting students at the University of Pretoria: A cross‐racial study

Myburgh

2005

Meditari Accountancy Research

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This cross-cultural study examined the career choices of Asian, black and white students at the University of Pretoria to identify the factors motivating Accountancy students to become chartered accountants (CAs), as only 2.5% (609) of 24 308 registered CAs in South Africa in 2005 were black, and only 6% (1573) were Indian. Understanding the attitudes and the perceptions of CA first-year students (identifying key career choice factors) can help course administrators/curriculum designers (the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and the Public Accountants and Auditors' Board (PAAB)) to align marketing and recruiting strategies with specific personal occupational preferences of different racial groups enrolled for local CA courses.Factors such as decision time-frame of career choice, socio-economic background, students' perceptions of the benefits/constraints of the CA profession, and other jobrelated factors, were analysed. Students attributed their career choice to their school Accounting performance. Most chose this career in Grades 8 to 11. All three groups like the availability of employment as a CA. Constraints were the cost of qualifying (according to black students), and the difficulty of qualifying (Asian and white students).

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“…The literature has identified barriers experienced by blacks to becoming CAs: these include financial constraints, a lack of family understanding of higher education's challenges (Vandiar, 2010;Weil & Wegner, 1997), poor secondary education, insufficient information and career advice at school (Sadler & Erasmus, 2005;Wiese, 2006), and a lack of mentorship and black role models (Rawana, 1996). This prompted the opening question to participants which requested them to share information on their backgrounds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other more pervasive barriers which impact learning at higher educational institutions are poor language and numeracy skills, financial constraints, a lack of family understanding of higher education's challenges and poor study skills (Vandiar, 2010;Weil & Wegner, 1997). The differences in cultural values between traditionally raised blacks and those with western backgrounds result in a lack of confidence amongst the traditionally raised blacks when socialising and difficulty in excelling in the corporate environment.…”

Section: The Barriers Experienced By Blacks On Their Education Path Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping Disadvantaged Students: Findings from the Thuthuka Programme

Barac

2015

Accounting Education

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Abstract:Drawing on social closure theory, this study achieved a deep understanding of the perceptions and experiences of the first cohort of candidates passing through the Thuthuka support programme. Using semi-structured interviews as part of a qualitative approach, currently prevalent modes of professional closure were considered by taking the backgrounds of these students into account, together with their perceptions of the accounting profession. Their views on whether the Thuthuka programme as an intervention had been successful in removing post-apartheid professional closure were determined by taking into account the Thuthuka students' readiness to sit for professional examinations and to enter the workplace. The findings of the study suggest features that could be considered in support programmes intended for socio-economically disadvantaged students to facilitate their entry into a restrictive and restricted market.

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Increasing the number of black chartered accountants in South Africa: an empirical review of educational issues

Cited by 21 publications

References 8 publications

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

An empirical analysis of career choice factors that influence first‐year Accounting students at the University of Pretoria: A cross‐racial study

Helping Disadvantaged Students: Findings from the Thuthuka Programme

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