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ARA
17,2 Students’ perceptions
of accounting profession:
work value approach
136
Eleni Germanou and Trevor Hassall
School of Business and Finance, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK, and
Yanni Tournas
Department of Business Management,
BMCC/City University of New York, New York, New York, USA

Abstract
Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to introduce a new theoretical framework in order to examine
similarities and differences between accounting major Malaysian and English students. It concerns
attributes and outcomes associated with the accounting profession, and the relationship between
students’ perceptions and intentions to pursue an accounting career.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey research approach has been adopted to investigate
students’ perceptions regarding the accounting profession. The data for this study are collected via
questionnaires completed by Malaysian exchange students visiting a university in England and
students of a major university in England. The results of the questionnaire are then quantitatively
analyzed.
Findings – The results indicate that both groups hold positive perceptions of the accounting
profession and there is a significant correlation between students’ perceptions and their intention to
pursue a career in the profession. The study also identifies that Malaysian and English students hold
differing perceptions concerning the accounting profession’s attributes and outcomes.
Originality/value – This is one of the first accounting education papers using the work value theory
to investigate perceptions regarding the accounting profession by Malaysian students of Chinese
ethnicity and compare these perceptions with the perceptions of students of a major university in
England of English ethnicity.
Keywords Perception, Accounting, Careers, Malaysia, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Technology, globalisation, new business relationships and the multidisciplinary
economic environment have changed the accounting profession (AP, Walker, 2004).
The AP today requires a new type of professional accountant with diverse knowledge,
skills and competences quite different from those in previous decades. Yet stereotypes of
accountants and the perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the AP, have not changed.
In recent years, there has been a continual decline in enrolments in accounting
programmes in various parts of the world (Albrecht and Sack, 2000, Marshall, 2003,
Jackling, 2002, Wells and Fieger, 2005). The AP has lost its ability to attract top students
resulting in concerns about the future of the AP (Albrecht and Sack, 2001; Marriott and
Asian Review of Accounting Marriott, 2003; Byrne and Willis, 2005). Several accounting academics argue that the
Vol. 17 No. 2, 2009
pp. 136-148 perceptions students hold about the AP influence them toward pursuing an accounting
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1321-7348
career (Horowitz and Riley, 1990; Cohen and Hanno, 1993; Felton et al., 1995). Hofstede
DOI 10.1108/13217340910975279 (1998) has argued that students from countries with different cultural and stage of
economic development backgrounds have different perceptions of the profession that Accounting
may affect their career choice. There is a scarcity of empirical investigations utilising profession
relevant theoretical frameworks and systematically developed instruments to measure
this perception of the AP. This research investigates differences between accounting
students from different countries concerning their perceptions of the AP.
In this study, the theory of work values is used to examine the potential students’
perceptions of attributes and outcomes associated with the AP. Work values are 137
regarded as broad tendencies to prefer certain job characteristics, outcomes or features
of work environments (Super, 1973; Pryor, 1983; Hofstede, 1998), or as desirable modes
of vocational behaviour (Meglino and Ravlin, 1998). Dose (1997, p. 2) summarised and
defined work values as:
[. . .] standards or criteria for choosing goals or guiding actions relating to work or the work
environment [. . .] that are [. . .] relatively enduring and stable over time.
This paper uses the theory of work values (Super, 1973) to measure accounting students’
perceptions concerning attributes and outcomes that are associated with the AP.
This paper, involving students from Malaysia and England, has the following
objectives:
.
to explore Malaysian and English accounting students’ perceptions concerning
attributes and outcomes associated with the AP;
.
to identify similarities and differences in the perceptions between the two groups;
.
to investigate Malaysian and English students’ overall perception of the AP; and
.
to examine the relationships between students’ perceptions and their intention to
pursue an accounting career.

The remainder of this work is structured with an exploration of prior research on the
perception of the AP, an outline of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for
the study, followed by the research methods used. The results of the statistical analysis
are examined and conclusions drawn.

2. Prior research
Cory (1992), Fisher and Murphy (1995) and Pollock et al. (2002) have argued that the
perception of the AP is a fundamental factor in students’ selection of accounting as an
academic major and as a career. Hermanson and Hermanson (1995) investigated top
business students’ perceptions of the AP and found that the nature of accounting work,
its work environment and associated lack of creativity, were the most important
negative perceptions that influenced their decision not to major in accounting. Other US
studies found that students perceive accounting work as highly precise and thorough,
deterring interest and discouraging creative individuals from pursuing an accounting
major (Saeman and Crooker, 1999; Coate et al., 2003). Chen et al.(2008) found that student
perceptions about accounting change over time during their education, the perceptions
being differentially associated with benefits and costs. Byrne and Willis (2005)
investigated the perceptions of Irish secondary school students, reporting a negative
view of the nature of accounting employment, perceiving it as boring, definite, precise
and compliance-driven. In contrast, Hartwell et al. (2005) reported more positive views of
accounting, claiming that students believed an accounting degree would be useful
ARA to individuals who wanted challenging work and aspired to be president or CEO of a
large company. Sugahara and Boland (2006) found that Japanese accounting students
17,2 hold more positive perceptions of their proposed profession compared to those of
non-accounting business students. Sugahara et al. (2008) found that differences in
students’ creativity and procedural images of the AP may have influenced students’
choice of an accounting major in Australia.
138 Pollock et al. (2002) investigated high school counsellors’ perceptions of the profession
and found it perceived as uninteresting, stressful, time-consuming and not particularly
rewarding financially. Barsky and Catanach (2001) noted that many students and their
parents do not understand how the role of accountants has changed from advisor on micro
accounting matters to a consultant on broad-based management issues.
On balance, these accounting studies mostly demonstrate negative perceptions,
using different constructs and measures – such as the characteristics of accountants and
of the accounting job, stereotypes of accountants, costs and benefits, perceived skills
required and intentions to pursue the accounting profession – often without any
theoretical justification (Fisher and Murphy, 1995; Mladenovic, 2000; Chen et al., 2008).
It appears that what is missing from the research is the measurement of the perception of
the accounting profession based on a commonly accepted theoretical framework.
Many researchers in the field of vocational decision making in other disciplines,
advocate the use of work values as a theoretical framework (Brown, 1995; Kinnier,
1995; Rokeach, 1973, 1977; Super, 1990; Super and Sverko, 1995).
Several vocational studies have identified different attributes/work values that
influence individuals when selecting their ideal job. Work values researchers have
concluded that the number and type of relevant attributes is associated with the
specific population under research (Pryor, 1983; Elizur et al., 1991; Hofstede, 1998).
Zytowski (1970) outlined a range of relevant attributes/work values. Subsequent
researchers have identified a set of general categories to classify the attributes/work
values (Elizur et al., 1991; Ros et al., 1999). Ros et al. (1999) classifies the attributes/work
values into four distinct general categories: extrinsic, intrinsic, prestige (or image) and
social (or altruistic).
In the present study these categories have been selected to measure perceptions
associated with the AP, based on prior accounting research of perceptions
(Hartwell et al., 2005; Byrne and Willis, 2005; Sugahara and Boland, 2006; Tan and
Laswad, 2006) and on the theory of work values. These attributes are outlined in
Table I within each of the four categories.

3. Hypotheses
It has been suggested by previous authors that students’ perceptions about the
accounting profession may differ based on cultural or ethnic origins. To measure
students’ perceptions of the AP and to identify similarities and differences between two
ethnic groups, the following null hypotheses were proposed.
H1-H4 there is no statistically significant difference between Malaysian and
English accounting students in their perception of the AP associated with:
H1. The extrinsic category of attributes.
H2. The intrinsic category of attributes.
H3. The prestige category of attributes.
 Accounting
Attributes Description Category
profession
Economic Benefits A concern for obtaining large salary and other Extrinsic
financial rewards from one’s work
Job security A concern for being able to maintain one’s job Extrinsic
Work conditions A concern for the kind of physical environment in Extrinsic
which one works 139
Advancement/promotion A concern for promoting oneself Prestige
Decision making A concern for making decisions Prestige
Social status A concern for recognition and status in the eyes of Prestige
others
Interesting nature of job A concern for doing something interesting Intrinsic
Personal growth A concern for learning new things Intrinsic
Achievement A concern for accomplishing something important Intrinsic
Autonomy A concern for being free from imposed constraints in Intrinsic
the work environment
Self-esteem A concern for doing something worthwhile Intrinsic
Contribution to society A concern for assisting others and contributing to Social Table I.
society Attributes, description,
Work with others A concern for friendship and understanding from Social and categories
those with whom one works of attributes

H4. The social category of attributes.

H5. There is no statistically significant difference in the overall perception of the
AP between Malaysian and English accounting students.
H6. There is no statistically significant relationship between students’ intention to
pursue an accounting career and their overall perception of the AP.
H7. There will not be a significant positive relationship between students’
intention to pursue the AP and the different categories.

4. Research method
4.1 Data collection
The data for this study were collected via questionnaires that were administered to two
different groups of accounting major students attending their final year of study. The
data collection was anonymous. The students participating in the study were given class
time to complete the questionnaires and these were collected immediately upon
completion. The first group consisted of full time Malaysian students who identified
themselves as being of Chinese ethnicity attending the Tunku Abdul Rahman
College (TARC) on exchange during their summer visit at a major university in England.
TARC was founded by the Malaysian Chinese Association, a majority of the students in
the college are of Chinese descent. The questionnaire was also administered to another
group of full time students attending a major university in England. From the collected
questionnaires, we selected the ones completed by students who identified themselves as
being of English ethnicity. Of the total 357 questionnaires collected, 224 were usable.
The unusable questionnaires were completed by students who identified themselves as
belonging to another ethnicity, or the questionnaires were incomplete. The gender,
ethnic and age structure of the sample population is shown in Table II.
ARA 4.2 The instrument
17,2 The instrument used in this study to measure the students’ perceptions and intention
was developed by Tourna et al. (2006) for business students.
The instrument is divided into two sections, as follows:
(1) Part I gathered students’ demographic information, i.e. gender, age, ethnicity
and family status.
140 (2) Part II asked students to indicate on a five point Likert scale, from “disagree
strongly” to “agree strongly”, the degree to which they related to
52 items-perceptions concerning attributes and outcomes associated with the
accounting profession (accounting perception scale, APS). An additional five
items assessed students’ intentions to follow the accounting profession as a
career (accounting intention scale, AIS).

4.3 Measures
Intention to pursue a career in the AP was measured using the AIS scale. The variable
of intention was created using the sum of scores for the five items related to the students’
intention to pursue a career in accountancy. The range of possible scores for this, and all
following measures, was 1 to 5, midpoint 3. The Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.91.
The four categories were operationalised as the perceptions that students held for
the AP’s attributes and outcomes as follows:
(1) Extrinsic category – of a material nature – mean value of 13 item scores.
Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.77.
(2) Intrinsic category – feelings that are produced inherently by the accounting job
itself – mean value of 23 item scores. Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.84.
(3) Prestige category – of a prestige (image) nature – mean value of 12 item scores.
Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.83.
(4) Social category – a social/affective nature – mean value of four item scores.
Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.69.

The overall perception was created using the mean value of scores for the 52 items
(APS) related to students’ perceptions associated with extrinsic, intrinsic, prestige and
social attributes and outcomes of the AP. Cronbach a for the present sample was 0.91.

5. Results
5.1 Descriptive analysis of questionnaires
The analysis of questionnaires suggests that there is positive intention to pursue
a career in accounting and a positive overall perception of the AP for the entire sample,
and for each ethnic group separately.

English students Malaysian students Total

Table II. Number 87 137 224

Structure of gender, Male 41 78 119
ethnicity and age Female 46 59 105
of sample Average age (min-max) 21.1 (20-25) 21.6 (21-27) 21.4 (20-27)
The results (Table III) indicate that the mean scores for overall perception for the total Accounting
sample (3.42), for Malaysian students (3.43) and for English students (3.42) are profession
significantly greater than the mid point of the scale 3.00 ( p , 0.000). However, 16 and
15 per cent of Malaysian and English students, respectively, indicated a neutral to
negative overall perception of the profession, and 33 and 28 per cent of Malaysian and
English students, respectively, indicated a neutral to negative intention to follow a
career in the AP. 141
Furthermore, these descriptive statistics show that the four general categories,
and the perceptions about all attributes associated with the AP, are above the midpoint
of the scales excepting work conditions and autonomy for both ethnic groups.
However, the mean scores of variables between the two groups are highly variable.

5.2 Similarities and differences between groups

To examine whether these differences between the two groups are statistically
significant, a series of t-test was performed. The results (Table IV) show no statistically
significant differences in overall perception, or in the three categories extrinsic,
intrinsic and prestige, between accounting students from Malaysia and England.
However, there is a statistically significant difference in the score of the social category.
Therefore, the hypotheses H1, H2, H3 and H5 are not supported, whereas the
hypothesis H4 is fully supported.
Regarding differences between the two ethnic groups in the scores of 13 attributes,
the patterns of the results accord with the literature (Auyeung and Sands, 1997; Tan and
Laswad, 2006). Statistically significant differences were identified between the two
groups concerning the scores of the attributes “economic benefits”, “job security”,
“achievement”, “nature of accounting job” and “contribution to society”. English
students perceive that the AP provides the opportunity for economic rewards, and offers

Total sample Malaysian sample English sample

Variables N Mean SD N Mean SD N Mean SD

Intention 223 3.48 0.82 136 3.43 0.80 87 3.55 0.94

Perception 215 3.42 0.35 132 3.42 0.36 83 3.43 0.33
Extrinsic 222 3.25 0.45 137 3.21 0.25 85 3.31 0.40
Intrinsic 221 3.33 0.39 135 3.33 0.41 86 3.33 0.37
Prestige 222 3.63 0.45 135 3.66 0.47 87 3.58 0.42
Social 221 3.33 0.57 136 3.05 0.59 85 3.81 0.54
Econ. benefits 224 3.42 0.56 137 3.30 0.58 87 3.61 0.49
Job security 223 3.65 0.63 137 3.75 0.61 86 3.50 0.62
Work condition 223 2.70 0.65 137 2.68 0.72 86 2.73 0.55
Business decis. 224 3.58 0.53 137 3.63 0.54 87 3.50 0.51
Advancement 224 3.80 0.57 137 3.84 0.58 87 3.72 0.56
Social status 222 3.57 0.60 135 3.57 0.60 87 3.58 0.60
Autonomy 224 2.93 0.82 137 2.99 0.77 87 2.85 0.88
Personal growth 224 3.45 0.56 137 3.43 0.59 87 3.47 0.52
Achievement 224 3.48 0.83 137 3.32 0.94 87 3.74 0.52
Nature acc. job 223 3.74 0.54 136 3.81 0.55 87 3.63 0.51 Table III.
Self esteem 223 3.65 0.60 136 3.63 0.59 87 3.68 0.61 Descriptive statistics
Work w. others 221 3.85 0.70 136 3.81 0.75 85 3.90 0.62 of the constructs under
Contrib. society 224 3.19 0.65 137 3.08 0.64 87 3.74 0.67 investigation
ARA
Variables Nationality N Mean SD t-test p-value
17,2
Intention English 87 3.55 0.94 n.s
Malaysian 136 3.43 0.80
Perception English 83 3.42 0.33 n.s
Malaysian 132 3.42 0.36
142 Extrinsic category English 85 3.31 0.40 n.s
Malaysian 137 3.21 0.25
Intrinsic category English 86 3.33 0.37 n.s
Malaysian 135 3.33 0.41
Prestige category English 87 3.58 0.42 n.s
Malaysian 135 3.66 0.47
Social category English 85 3.81 0.54 4.22 0.000
Malaysian 136 3.05 0.59
Econ. benefits English 87 3.61 0.49 3.87 0.000
Malaysian 137 3.30 0.58
Job security English 86 3.50 0.62 23.00 0.000
Malaysian 137 3.75 0.61
Work condition English 86 2.73 0.55 n.s
Malaysian 137 2.68 0.72
Business decision English 87 3.50 0.51 n.s
Malaysian 137 3.63 0.54
Advancement English 87 3.72 0.56 n.s
Malaysian 137 3.84 0.58
Social status English 87 3.58 0.60 n.s
Malaysian 135 3.57 0.60
Autonomy English 87 2.85 0.88 n.s
Malaysian 137 2.99 0.77
Personal growth English 87 3.47 0.52 n.s
Malaysian 137 3.43 0.59
Achievement English 87 3.74 0.52 3.74 0.000
Malaysian 137 3.32 0.94
Nature acc. job English 87 3.63 0.51 22.50 0.002
Malaysian 136 3.81 0.55
Self esteem English 87 3.68 0.61 n.s
Table IV. Malaysian 136 3.63 0.59
t-test – identifying Work w. others English 85 3.90 0.62 n.s
differences between Malaysian 136 3.81 0.75
Malaysian and English Contribution to society English 87 3.74 0.67 3.10 0.000
students Malaysian 137 3.08 0.64

valuable achievement and contribution to businesses and to society. Malaysian students

associate the AP more with job security, indicating more positive perceptions for the
interesting nature of the accounting job, than did the English students.

5.3 Relationships between accounting vocational constructs

Hypothesis H6 regarding students’ intentions to pursue an accounting career and their
overall perception of the AP, was tested using Pearson product-moment correlation
coefficient (Pearson’s r). The results (Tables V-VII) show a medium positive correlation
between intention and perception for the total sample. A large positive correlation was
found between intention and perception for the Malaysian sample, and a medium
positive correlation for the English sample. Therefore, hypothesis H6 is not supported.
Hypothesis H7 regarding students’ intentions and the extrinsic, intrinsic, prestige and Accounting
social categories, was also tested using Pearson’s r. The results (Table V) indicate a large profession
positive correlation between intention and the intrinsic category, a medium
positive correlation between intention and the prestige and social categories, and a
small positive correlation between intention and the extrinsic category for the total sample.
The results for Malaysian students (Table VI) show a strong positive relationship between
intention and the intrinsic category, a medium positive relationship between intention and 143
the prestige and extrinsic categories, and a small positive relationship between intention
and social category for the Malaysian sample. The results for English students (Table VII)
show a medium positive correlation between intention and the intrinsic and the social
categories for the English sample. There were no statistically significant relationships
between English students’ intention and the extrinsic and prestige categories. Therefore,
hypothesis H7 is partially supported.
The results for English students (Table VIII) support a strong positive correlation
between their intentions and the nature of the accounting job, and a medium positive

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 a

1 Intention 1 0.91
2 Perception 0.46 * 1 0.91
3 Extrinsic 0.22 * 0.71 * 1 0.77
4 Intrinsic 0.51 * 0.90 * 0.47 * 1 0.84
5 Prestige 0.31 * 0.79 * 0.39 * 0.59 * 1 0.83
6 Social 0.35 * 0.60 * 0.22 * 0.53 * 0.44 * 1 0.69 Table V.
Total sample and
Notes: *Correlation is significant at: 0.01 level (two-tailed); N ¼ 224 intercorrelations

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 a

1 Intention 1 0.90
2 Perception 0.53 * 1 0.91
3 Extrinsic 0.28 * 0.68 * 1 0.81
4 Intrinsic 0.53 * 0.90 * 0.44 * 1 0.83
5 Prestige 0.41 * 0.80 * 0.32 * 0.63 * 1 0.79
6 Social 0.22 * 0.45 * 0.20 * 0.50 * 0.48 * 1 0.70 Table VI.
Malaysian students
Notes: *Correlation is significant at: 0.01 level (two-tailed); N ¼ 137 and intercorrelations

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 a

1 Intention 1 0.88
2 Perception 0.36 * 1 0.91
3 Extrinsic X 0.79 * 1 0.75
4 Intrinsic 0.50 * 0.89 * 0.56 * 1 0.85
5 Prestige X 0.79 * 0.57 * 0.56 * 1 0.86
6 Social 0.38 * 0.65 * 29 * 0.57 * 0.53 * 1 0.67 Table VII.
English students
Notes: *Correlation is significant at: 0.01 level (two-tailed); N ¼ 87 and intercorrelations
ARA
English sample N ¼ 87 Malaysian sample N ¼ 137
17,2
1 Intention 1 Intention 1
2 Economic benefits attribute 0.150 Economic benefits attribute 0.302 * *
3 Job security attribute 0.137 Job security attribute 0.220 *
4 Work condition attribute 2 0.075 Work condition attribute 0.104
144 5 Business decision making attribute 0.110 Business decision making attribute 0.380 * *
6 Advancement attribute 0.202 Advancement attribute 0.310 * *
7 Social status attribute 0.120 Social status attribute 0.289 * *
8 Autonomy attribute 0.047 Autonomy attribute 0.048
9 Personal growth attribute 0.317 * * Personal growth attribute 0.297 * *
10 Achievement attribute 0.310 * * Achievement attribute 0.331 * *
11 Nature of accounting job attribute 0.519 * * Nature of accounting job attribute 0.389 * *
12 Self esteem attribute 0.440 * * Self esteem attribute 0.551 * *
Table VIII. 13 Work with others attribute 0.349 * * Work with others attribute 0.304 * *
Interrcorelations 14 Contribution to society attribute 0.299 * * Contribution to society attribute 0.207
intention and
sub-dimensions Note: Correlation is significant at: *0.05 and * *0.01 levels (two-tailed), respectively

correlation between intentions and personal growth, achievement, self esteem, work
with others and contribution to society attributes. The results for Malaysian students
(Table VIII) indicate a strong positive correlation between intention and self esteem,
and a medium positive correlation between intention and economic benefits, the nature
of the accounting job, achievement, business decision making, advancement/promotion
and work with others. These findings indicate that Malaysian students’ intentions are
statistically significant with all categories of attributes and with eight attributes and
outcomes associated with the AP. In contrast English students’ intentions are
statistically significant only with the intrinsic and social categories, and with six
attributes.

6. Conclusion
In general the study indicates that if a student has a positive perception of the AP
then that student will be highly likely to have a positive intention to pursue an
accounting career, consistent with the findings of Cohen and Hanno (1993), Felton
et al. (1995), Marriott and Marriott (2003) and Sugahara et al. (2008). The study
provides further evidence of the importance of students’ perceptions of different
attributes in making an accounting career choice. Specifically, the intrinsic and social
category of attributes were found to relate significantly with the English students’
intentions and all four categories were related significantly to the Malaysian students’
intentions.
The findings reveal important similarities and differences between the two ethnic
groups concerning the attributes associated with the AP. Accounting students from both
countries are motivated to pursue the profession mainly based on their perceptions about
the opportunities for work with others, career advancement and the interesting nature of
the accounting job, confirming the emphases of Saeman and Crooker (1999), Coate et al.
(2003) and Byrne and Willis (2005). Furthermore, perceptions concerning business
decision making, self esteem and job security seemed to be important motivators.
Interestingly, both Malaysian and English students perceive the accounting job as Accounting
stressful, that accountants work under difficult working conditions (pressure and stress), profession
follow instructions from others and work with strict deadlines for the completion of
accounting assignments (Pollock et al., 2002). An interesting direction for future research
would be to investigate the reasons for this common negative perception among groups of
students with diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds.
This study indicates that students with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds can 145
differ with respect to their personal perceptions about the AP, consistent with the
findings of Hofstede (1986), Tan and Laswad (2006) and Sugahara et al. (2008). English
students perceived that the AP is more associated with economic benefits, achievement
and contribution to the well-being of society; whereas Malaysian students perceived that
the profession offers opportunities for job security, advancement and an interesting job.
These findings generally accord with the research of Auyeung and Sands (1997) and Tan
and Laswad (2006).
The research confirms the expectation that students will be influenced by a broad
range of perceived attributes and outcomes of the profession. This suggests the
importance of accounting educators and practitioners actively promoting the whole
range of outcomes (extrinsic, intrinsic, prestige and social) to prospective and current
students in order to positively influence their overall perception, thereby attracting
individuals with creative, analytical and leadership skills into the AP.
There are some limitations in this study. Participants used in the present study
comprise a relatively small sample of accounting students, and the study was based on
self-reported answers which may be subject to social desirability bias.
Several directions for future research are suggested by this study. Researchers can
utilise the proposed framework to examine how student perceptions evolve during the
different stages of their educational life (high school, university) and how student
perceptions affect vocational constructs and outcomes about the accounting career
choice. Additionally, it will be important to identify the reasons why students acquire a
neutral or negative intention to pursue the AP, and the reasons why students choose to
pursue an accounting degree even though they have no intention to pursue the AP as a
career choice. It is also desirable to shed some light on how cultural, business/economic
conditions and socio-political system differences, influence the formation of perceptions
held by students and accountants in the international business sphere.

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About the authors

Eleni Germanou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration in the
School of Business at the Technological Institute of Athens. She received a BS in Economics from
the University of Thessalonica, MBA from Vrije University of Brussels and a PhD from the
Sheffield Hallam University. Her current research interests are in accounting career choice,
accounting education, job satisfaction of accounting jobs and the role of accounting information
in Greek SME.
Trevor Hassall is Professor of Accounting Education at Sheffield Hallam University. He is the
leader of the Accounting and Business Education Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University
and has published extensively in professional and refereed journals. Specific research interests
include the pedagogic use of case studies and the barriers to skills development. Other interests
include the approaches to learning of accounting students and the development of vocational
ARA skills in undergraduate and professional accounting students. In the area of professional
activities he is a member of Council and Chair of the Examination Board for the Chartered
17,2 Institute of Management Accountants.
Yanni Tournas received his PhD from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management of
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). He has taught previously at Northwestern University,
Rutgers University, Heriot Watt University, the Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics and
the Helsinki School of Economics. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at City University of
148 New York. His publications have appeared in a variety of academic journals, including the
European Economic Review and the International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Yanni Tournas is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: ytournas@bmcc.cuny.edu

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