Economics, Management, and Financial Markets Volume 9(4), 2014, pp. 201–212, ISSN 1842-3191
A RESEARCH ON THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ VIEWPOINTS ON ACCOUNTING COURSES AND PROFESSION HAKAN AHMET ÖZKÜRKÇÜLER
[email protected] Selcuk University MEHMET BURAK CERAN
[email protected] Selcuk University METEHAN ORTAKARPUZ
[email protected] Selcuk University ABSTRACT. The perverse competition from commercial life increases, gradually, the accountancy’s importance in the expectations of the management. The management needs both programs and qualified staff; they must enter faster and more reliable data into the system and must be able to interpret these data, too. Therefore, the accounting organization is based on computer technology, hardware and software, and on universities and vocational training that educate qualified employees. Thus, a study was made regarding the adequacy of the vocational education and using the questionnaire as a tool. The questionnaire was applied on the students who are trained in the educational programs of Accounting and Taxing Applications and Business Management of the Vocational High School (VHS). The questionnaire deals with education and expectations of the students who are related to accountancy and shop classes. The data had been interpreted with SPSS statistical program. JEL codes: M400; M410; A220 Keywords: vocational/occupational education; accountancy; Vocational High Schools (VHS)
1. Introduction Information and speed, in the globalized world, where commercial boundaries are removed and the value of the processed information gradually increases, have been important elements for management to provide a competitive advantage. Management needs to keep up with this increasing volume of trade both physically (facility, machine, technology, 201
etc.) and in terms of infrastructure information. Information means that the human being understands and systemizes the events around and inside him and brings it explainable. In order to get this, observation, experiment, and experiences need to be collected (Bilhan, 1991: 143). Concerning the education of accountancy, this is a process providing for systemizing this information. While Aysan defines accounting education as a process of determining, collecting, measuring, processing, checking the truth and abstracting the reports of information that is useful to managerial decisions and in informing students about how the reported information will be used in the phases of deciding and developing the student’s skills for application of these information (Aysan, 1979: 254), Akbulut expresses that the main reason of accounting education is to educate the responsible ones who need to use financial information as true and reliable accounting information which has to be presented and to direct the applications according to it (Akbulut, 1997: 3). At this stage, to be able to present true and reliable accounting information, namely, to produce financial information, the data to be entered need to be true and also detailed to take different reports into many subjects, but at least speed and faultless. At this point, accounting pocket programs and qualified vocational staff go to help management. These two elements completing each other come together by a good accounting organization. Additionally, accounting software can be bought by necessary paid price, and software can be updated to the necessities of this time. Nevertheless, this program, in the absence of qualified vocational staffs, will not work effectively. In an atmosphere that the need for accounting staffs to be able to provide for financial information related to a just, true, objective management, and good quality increases day by day, the development of the vocational information and skills of the accounting students come into prominence. Undoubtedly, the quality of the accounting education that students receive is the basic determinative factor at this point. Under the framework, goodquality education, good-quality accountant, and good-quality accounting information bring effective and true managerial decisions (Dastan, 2008). Therefore, the importance of the both Faculties of Economics and Administrative Sciences which educate staff as managers toward accountancy, and VHS’s that train intermediate staffs toward accounting organization increases still more.
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2. Planning of Research 2.1. Goal of Research The aim of this study is to examine the tendencies of the students who study in the Program of Business Management, and Accounting and Taxing Applications of Social Sciences VHS, Akoren Ali Riza Ercan VHS, Doganhisar VHS and Eregli Kemal Akman VHS, which belong to the Vocational High Schools of Selcuk University and train intermediate staffs for an accounting organization, and the level of adequacy and quality of shop classes in the accounting education, and whether the ready-graduate students feel themselves sufficiently qualified in terms of profession, or not. 2.2. Scope and Method of Research In this study, a questionnaire was applied on 508 students of a total of 1313 students who study in the second-grade of the Programs of Accounting and Taxing Applications and Business Management of Social Sciences VHS, Akoren Ali Riza Ercan Voc VHS, Doganhisar VHS and Eregli Kemal Akman VHS from the Vocational High Schools of Selcuk University. Twelve students’ questionnaires were not validated, remaining only 486 questionnaires. In the study, it was applied the method of questionnaire that is one of the data collecting techniques. A questionnaire can be defined as “question lists” that are prepared with a definite plan to explain the emotions, thoughts, and experiences of some people or groups on a definite subject. Because the only communication resource between a researcher and a source person is questions in the questionnaire method, the questions need to include careful and clear expressions which have to avoid misunderstandings. While the questions were prepared, the questionnaires made on this subject were treated firstly, and after that the help of a professional company that works in the fields of researching and consulting was requested, the questions were formed according to five point Likert scale. The questionnaire had two chapters. The first chapter was dedicated to the personal questions; they were asked about the education that students received; the adequacy of this education and if they selected the accountancy as a profession in the second chapter. The questionnaire was applied in April, 2012, almost a month before the end of the second semester. The reason of waiting for the end of the semester was to provide that the students could reach the level of graduating after completing their phases of the courses and in this way, they could answer these questions more clearly. The collected data was coded by entering (the data) in the SPSS 16.0 version, and 203
it was gotten benefitted from the frequency and percent analysis to put the data distribution forward and from the chi square analysis to determine the relations among the questions of survey in accordance with the aim of this study. The chi square test is based on whether the difference between the observed frequencies and the waited frequencies is significant. In other words, the chi square test is useful for controlling the harmony between real distribution and theoretical distribution (Kabukcu, 1994). 2.3. Findings and Assessment of Research The questionnaire results of the study are assessed on tables. While the analysis of frequency is used on first tables, the results of chi square analysis and the data are interpreted on other tables. 2.3.1. The Results of Frequency Analysis In the first chapter of our study’s results, the results of frequency analysis of questionnaire, which is applied on the Programs of Business Management and Accounting and Taxing Applications of Social Sciences VHS, Akoren Ali Riza Ercan VHS, Doganhisar VHS and Eregli Kemal Akman VHS from the Vocational High Schools (VHS) of Selcuk University, are shown on the following table. Table 1. Demographic, School, and Other Characteristic of Preferences Which VHS of Selcuk University do you study?
Gender
Age
Which program do you study? Did you willingly prefer the program in which you study? Did you start the program by order of preference or vertical transfer?
Eregli Kemal Akman VHS Social Sciences VHS Akoren Ali Riza Ercan VHS Doganhisar VHS Total Male Female Total 17-19 20-22 22 and above Total Accounting and Taxing App. Business Management Total No Yes Total By order of preference By vertical transfer Total
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Frequency 60 256 144 26 486 201 285 486 40 355 91 486 324 162 486 201 285 486 351 135 486
Percent 12.3 52.7 29.6 5.3 100.0 41.4 58.6 100.0 8.2 73.0 18.7 100.0 66.7 33.3 100.0 41.4 58.6 100.0 72.2 27.8 100.0
In the first chapter of our study’s results, the results of frequency analysis of questionnaire, which is applied on the Programs of Business Management and Accounting and Taxing Applications of Social Sciences VHS, Akoren Ali Riza Ercan VHS, Doganhisar VHS and Eregli Kemal Akman VHS from the Vocational High Schools (VHS) of Selcuk University, are shown on the following table. Table 2. Selection of Accountancy as a Profession
I want to work in the accounting departments of management or the accounting offices as a profession.
Frequency
Percent
Undecided
161
33.1
No
109
22.Nis
Yes
216
44.4
Total
486
100.0
When questions to the students studying in different vocational high schools whether or not they want to work in the accounting departments or the accounting offices as a profession, have reached the results that 161 of 486 students (33 %) who attend the questionnaire replies as undecided, 109 students (22 %) will not work in this profession, and 216 students (45 %) will perform the accountancy. If the question is again asked in a different way to test the truth of answer in the question, there will seen in the following table that the answer given does not change. That is, most of the students attending the questionnaire express that they will perform this occupation. Table 3. Self Confidence of the Students Frequency By the theoretical information that I learn in my school life, I am able to work in the accounting offices and the accounting departments of management.
Strongly Disagree Disagree Partly Agree (Neutral) Agree Strongly Agree Total
17 49 129 165 126 486
Percent 3,5 10,1 26,5 34,0 25,9 100,0
According to the answers above, most of the students preferring this department come to the department with a conscious preference. 2.3.2. The Results of Chi Square Analysis A part of the survey questions in my study were prepared according to the five point Likert scale as Strongly Agree, Agree, Partly/Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. As for the answers given, they were interpreted by chi square analysis. The significance value of Pearson’s chi square (P) was calculated, and it was realized in the level of 5% significance. 205
Table 4. Students’ Undergraduate Education after Associate Degree I want to start an undergraduate education with a vertical transfer after associate degree in terms of my career.
Programs Accounting and Taxing Applications Business Management
N 324
Mean 3.61
Min. 1
Max. 5
162
4.04
1
5
Total
486
3.76
1
5
Sig. .001
When we look at the expression above, we see the turnout of the expression is 3.76. This rate is close to the expression of “Agree.” As we see it in terms of the program, it is seen that the students who study in the program of Management participate in it at a higher rate than the students who study in the program of Accounting. Because it is p
