Sandra Felton

A Theory of Reasoned Action model of the Chartered Accountant career choice

Abstract This paper tests a Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) model of the business students choice of a career in Chartered Accountancy (CA). The CA designation is the Canadian equivalent of the American Certified Public Accountant (CPA). The TRA model predicts that a students choice of a CA career is a function of the students attitudes towards becoming a CA. In testing the TRA model, we defined attitudes in two ways: first, as the sum of the interactions between beliefs that becoming a CA will lead to certain outcomes and the evaluation of the importance of these outcomes in choosing a career; and second, as a ratio where the numerator is beliefs in the benefits and the denominator is beliefs in the costs of becoming a CA. Based on a survey of 897 graduating business students, we found support for the TRA model. We suggest that accounting recruiters should concentrate on students studying finance and economics and should promote specific outcomes of a CA career such as good long-term earnings, advancement opportunities, variety in the work, chance to make a contribution, and flexibility of career options.

The Impact of a Flexible Assessment System on Students' Motivation, Performance and Attitude

We examine a flexible assessment system that allows students to determine the weights allocated to each course component and to re-allocate the weights in response to achieved scores. The flexibility is intended to encourage students’ participation in the learning process, thereby promoting self-regulated learning skills. We compare this assessment system to a traditional system and to another system, in which the students may choose their own weights but cannot change them later in the term. We examine the impact on students’ motivation as measured by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), as well as the impact on grades and students’ attitudes. Our results indicate little improvement in motivation, grades or attitudes when students design and commit to their grading plans early in the term. However, the more flexible system, which allows for re-allocation, appears to improve students’ grades, self-reported motivation and attitudes.

Ethical Performance, Financial Performance and the Quality of Financial Reporting

This research examines the economic impact of firms acting ethically on financial reporting performance and quality. We assess the impact of quarterly changes in the Covalance Ethics Index (CEI) rankings compared to firm financial performance (FP) and financial reporting quality (FRQ). A significant positive (negative) stock market reaction to CEI upgrades (downgrades) is observed. Further, the results of correlation and logistic regression analysis suggest that a positive association between increased firm ethical behaviour and performance exists. Finally, multivariate analysis consistently shows that CEI ranking downgrades reflect both lower FP and FRQ rankings. Collectively, these results suggest that corporate measures taken to increase ethical performance are associated with positive benefits to shareholders.