회계학 입문과목이 회계전공 선택에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study is to analyze how student perceptions and grades regarding to the first course in accounting, Introductory Accounting (or ‘Accounting Principles’) course, influence on the choice of accounting as a major. We surveyed students’ perceptions of the first accounting course and empirically investigated them. The sample of this study consists of students enrolled in the Principles of Financial Accounting program at the Business School of a university. The sample includes 201 students who took the introductory accounting as a requirement before taking upper－level business classes. Performing well in the introductory accounting course makes it more likely that a student will select accounting as a major. Students had good performance in the accounting principles course, responded positively in the next accounting courses, and perceived success in the accounting courses as a signal to choose accounting as a major. These results suggest that the introductory course may attract higher performing students to major in accounting. But many students who perform well in accounting may choose to major in it possibly because of other factors. A factor analysis was conducted using our survey data and three strong factors from the students’ perceptions were found. They were interest, usefulness, and career. We included accounting major selection, accounting principle’s final grades, students’ perceptions variables in the regression. The regression results indicated that the most significant predictor of students deciding to major in accounting after the introductory course was their final grade. The study also revealed that personal interests and career outcome expectations were significantly influential determinants for the decision to major in accounting. The choice－of－major decision depended on student interests in studying the introductory accounting and opinions on career opportunities among students’ perceptions. Previous studies looked into the importance of student demographics, accounting program characteristics, and general perceptions regarding the accounting principles. Our analyses for selection of accounting as a major indicate that the decision depended on students’ individual perceptions in addition to performance regarding the first accounting course. Despite weaknesses, we believe this study does make a valid contribution to improving introductory accounting programs and then to attracting higher－quality business school students to the accounting major.