perceptions of the certified public accountants by accounting and non‐accounting tertiary students in japan.pdfVIP

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at /1321-7348.htm ISSUE 2 Perceptions of the CPAs Perceptions of the certified public accountants by accounting and non-accounting tertiary students 149 in Japan Satoshi Sugahara Faculty of Commerce Sciences, Hiroshima Shudo University, Hiroshima, Japan, and Gregory Boland School of Business and Government, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia Abstract Purpose – This study aims to investigate tertiary business students’ perceptions of certified public accountants (CPAs) in Japan and how this perception may influence their career path decision. Design/methodology/approach – This study is the first such research in Japan that has been conducted to investigate students’ perception of various factors regarding the accounting profession and CPA. The data used in this study were collected via questionnaires completed by students who were studying at the undergraduate and graduate levels in large Japanese universities. From approximately 200 universities offering accounting courses in Japan, this study mainly selected universities where students were contemplating a career in the accounting profession. The results of the questionnaire were then quantitatively analyzed. Findings – The results indicated significant differences in several factors of perceptions towar