FACTORS AFFECTING ACCOUTING STUDENTS TO PURSUE PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTING QUALIFICATIONS

Abstract

This study aims to identify factors that influence private university students' intention to pursue a Professional Accounting Qualification (PAQ). The study used a mixed approach, including distributing questionnaires to respondents and conducting interviews to gain insight into the findings. A total of 140 questionnaires were collected in this study, and 10 students were interviewed. The results of regression analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and students' intention to pursue PAQ. In contrast, the relationship between subjective norms and constraints and students' intention to pursue the PAQ was not significant. The study will be useful to various educational institutions as well as the accounting profession as it helps to identify what motivates accounting students to pursue professional accounting qualifications, which in turn may increase the number of professional accountants in Malaysia.