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The factors influencing accounting school students' career intention to become a Certified Public Accountant in Japan

Satoshi Sugahara (Faculty of Commerce Sciences, Hiroshima Shudo University, Hiroshima, Japan)
Kazuo Hiramatsu (School of Business Administration, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya‐shi, Japan)
Greg Boland (School of Business and Government, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia)

Asian Review of Accounting

ISSN: 1321-7348

Article publication date: 15 May 2009

9637

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing career intentions toward becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by students who are studying at the accounting schools in Japan. This paper focused on students' work experience, prior major/s at their undergraduate level, gender, attitude toward the opportunity cost of becoming a CPA and their perceptions of the CPA profession.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprised students studying at 13 accounting schools in Japan. A questionnaire was given to these students in order to empirically examine the relationship between these influential factors and their career intention, with particular reference to those who intended to pursue a CPA career. Those studying in these accounting schools generally consist of two type of students; those who want to become a CPA and those who merely want to brush up on their accounting skills and do not wish to sit the CPA entrance exams. A total of 349 effective responses were analysed.

Findings

Findings indicate that students who have work experience and major in disciplines other than accounting or business are more reluctant to become a CPA. This is in direct contrast to one of the objectives for the CPA reform scheme in Japan, which is to extend the diversity of CPA candidature.

Originality/value

This paper is the first study undertaken in Japan to successfully provide a new dimension on the factors that influence career intention of students aspiring to become a CPA.

Keywords

Citation

Sugahara, S., Hiramatsu, K. and Boland, G. (2009), "The factors influencing accounting school students' career intention to become a Certified Public Accountant in Japan", Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/13217340910956487

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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