Accounting Student’s Intention: Higher Education or Go Straight to

Works? Empirical Study on S1 Accounting Student of Universitas

Airlangga

Yayang Arief Septa Andiana

, Yani Permatasari

, Agus Widodo Mardijuwono

Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia

{yayang.arief-2013, yanipermatasari, agus-m-w}@feb.unair.ac.id

Keywords: Accounting Education, Accounting Student

Abstract: In this modern era, competition in the work environment is increasing. Students are required to have either

competitive skills or a high education in order to win the competition. Accounting students graduates may

choose to go straight to work or move on to higher education, which are Accounting Profession Education

(PPAk) and Accounting Master Degree (S2). This study aims to prove the influence of factors, such as

scholarship, gender, GPA, and career prospect, that affecting S1 Accounting Students of Universitas

Airlangga interest to get higher education. The hypotheses are tested using multiple linear regression. The

result shows that scholarship, GPA, and career prospect have influences on students interest to get higher

education while gender not.

1 INTRODUCTION

Qualified human resources are the key aspect in this

intense competition era, only those who are ready to

face the challenges and have adequate skills that can

survive in the competition. One of the provisions

that must be owned by individuals is education. The

higher the level of education, the higher the quality

of human resources so that the expectations of an

individual can be accepted and survive in the job

competition becomes greater. The science of

accounting is one of knowledge that can be chose to

achieve higher education, to learn about the process

of preparation of a company's financial statements

that will be used by internal and external companies

for various interests (Kieso et al., 2011:5).

Accounting is one of the study programs at the

Faculty of Economics and Business that are in great

demand by the public. The main factors that make a

lot of students choosing accounting majors are

imaging factors, availability of employment factors,

interest factors, and joint decision factors (Risnawati

and Irwandi, 2012: 69). Initial educational

accounting in college starts from an accounting

scholar. After graduating, students can choose to

continue to the higher level of accounting master

degree (S2) or Accounting Profession (PPAk).

Students' intention in continuing to higher levels

can be influenced by several factor, such are

economic status, education, situational

circumstances and psychological state (Hurlock in

Prima, 2011). Improved economic status will make

students accounting interest higher in continuing

their studies. Vice versa if their economic status is

low then their interest in continuing study will also

be low. But this can be overcome by the number of

scholarships programmed by the government and

private parties. In addition, other factors that may

affect student interest is the learning achievement

that is reflected in the student's Grade Point Average

(GPA). This accomplishment can help them

complete their studies and make more confidence to

pursue higher education (Anggraeni, 2016).

Other things that can also affect students’

intention are motivation factors, namely career

motivation, quality, economy, seeking knowledge,

degree, duration of education, achievement, and

education cost (Puspitarini, 2011; Aryani, 2016).

Previous research has proved that the motivation has

a positive effect on the intention of students in

continuing PPAk while the cost of education has a

negative effect on students’ intention. However,

previous research only partially examined, namely

the intention of students in continuing PPAk only

whereas accounting students can also continue their

Andiana, Y., Permatasari, Y. and Mardijuwono, A.

Accounting Student’s Intention: Higher Education or Go Straight to Works ? Empirical Study on S1 Accounting Student of Universitas Airlangga.

In Proceedings of the Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics Symposium 2018 on Special Session for Indonesian Study (JCAE 2018) - Contemporary Accounting Studies in

Indonesia, pages 9-15

ISBN: 978-989-758-339-1

studies to get master degree in accounting.

Therefore, this research will be discussed about what

factors that may affect the intention of accounting

students in continuing study for PPAk and Master of

Accounting.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Theory of Motivation

Motivation is a psychological process that can give

the impetus to perform a certain action in order to

achieve a desired goal (Luthans, 2005: 270; Malayu,

2005:143; Gunadarma, 2004:1). There are three

important things in the motivation: (1) motivation as

a motivator means that motivation can give a person

a power to perform a certain action, (2) motivation

as a director means that motivation provides a

direction for someone in behave, (3) motivation as a

support means that motivation can provide a force

that can be an individual basis in acting in order to

achieve an expected goal. (Sheleh & Wahab, 2005).

2.2 The Influence of Career Prospects

on Accounting Students’ Intention

in Continuing PPAk and S2

Aryani and Erawati (2016) stated that career

motivation had positive effect on student intention in

following PPAk. In his research states if the increase

of motivation variable of 1 then it will cause an

increase in the intention of students to follow the

PPAk of 40.2% assuming other variables remain.

Therefore the motivation of career accounting

students partially able to give a significant influence

of 0.04224. Thus it can be concluded if the career

prospects of accounting students are able to give a

significant influence on the intention to continue the

master of accounting program. This is due to the

higher level of education pursued or followed by

individuals, the greater the career prospects of the

individual. In accordance with this statement, the

hypothesis proposed in this study are as follows:

H1: Career prospects affect the intention of

accounting students to continue PPAk study

program.

H2: Career prospects affect the intention of

accounting students to continue S2.

2.3 The Influence of GPA on

Accounting Students’ Intention in

Continuing Study Program PPAk

and S2

Puspitarini and Kusumawati (2011) stated that

achievement motivation is a form capable of giving

a high impetus for an individual to achieve a desired

goal. They proved that achievement motivation has a

significant influence on accounting students’

intention to follow PPAk. Thus, GPA variables that

are a form of achievement motivation owned by

students can be said to give a significant influence

on the intention of accounting students to continue

both in accounting masters program and PPAk. This

is because when a student has a high GPA then they

will feel if his academic ability has been sufficient to

continue to a higher program again. Based on the

above statement, the hypothesis proposed in this

research is as follows:

H3: Cumulative Achievement Index (GPA)

affects the intention of accounting students to

continue PPAk study program.

H4: Cumulative Achievement Index (GPA)

affects the intention of accounting students to

continue S2.

2.4 The Influence of Gender on

Accounting Students’ Intention

Continuing Study Program of

PPAk and S2 of Accounting

Seow (2014) says that gender has a positive

relationship with student performance. This is

because the female students are better than the male

students, because the men there after graduating

school do not directly go to the university but are

required to follow the military service. While

women can immediately continue their education to

university after graduating from school or work.

Female students entering college in advance have

more opportunities to absorb lecture materials than

male students. It can also be attributed to the norm in

society that men have an obligation to work. Ma

students after graduate college mostly choose to

work directly. This is because most male students

feel that work is their responsibility and to meet their

needs as well.

JCAE Symposium 2018 – Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics Symposium 2018 on Special Session for Indonesian Study

Thus we can know if student's gender is able to

influence the intention to continue study to the

higher level. Therefore in this study the proposed

hypothesis is as follows:

H5: Gender has an influence on Accounting

Students’ Intention in Continuing PPAk.

H6: Gender has an influence on Accounting

Students’ Intention in Continuing S2.

2.5 The Influence of Scholarship on

Accounting Students’ Intention

Continuing Study Program of

PPAk and S2 of Accounting

The high cost of education is a major inhibiting

factor that causes many students chose not to

continue their education at a higher level (Fitriani,

2014). However, these obstacles can be overcome by

the large number of scholarships offered by the

government or other parties to students throughout

Indonesia in order to be able to follow the education

as high as possible in accordance with the wishes

expected. Scholarships offered to continue to the

level of higher education are available for

undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate program.

Therefore, the scholarship variables can be

categorized as variables that can affect the intention

of accounting students to move on to the higher

level, i.e. PPAk and S2 program without having cost

constraints. Based on the above statement, the

hypothesis proposed in this research is as follows:

H7: The scholarship has an influence on the

intention of accounting students in continuing PPAk.

H8: The scholarship has an influence on the

intention of accounting student to continue S2.

3 RESEARCH METODOLOGY

3.1 Conceptual Framework

The following conceptual framework is used in this

study to describe the relationship between

independent variables of profitability, firm size,

industry affiliation, and sustainability of department

and external assurance on sustainable reports.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework.

3.2 Research Design

This research is done by using purposive sampling

with samples of 105 S1 Accounting Student

Universitas Airlangga who have taken the Auditing

II course. Moreover, the hypotheses are tested using

multiple linear regression.

3.3 Operational Definition of Variables

3.3.1 Career Prospects

According to Ridki Zarkasyi (2013) prospect is a

future hope in the form of opportunities that are

tailored to the abilities and circumstances of an

individual. While the career prospects is whether or

not a person's chances to obtain a better career

ladder in the future. Career prospects are influenced

by several factors, one of which is caused by the

level of education that has been taken by an

individual. In this study, career prospect variables

aimed to find out how much influence with the

intention of Universitas Airlangga accounting

program students to continue in the higher level

study (PPAk and S2). This variable will be measured

by using 4 Likert scale with 6 items of questions

contained in research instruments in the form of

questionnaires conducted directly by researchers.

Career

Prospect

GPA

Gender

Scholarship

Intention

on S2

Intention

on PPAk

Accounting Student’s Intention: Higher Education or Go Straight to Works ? Empirical Study on S1 Accounting Student of Universitas

Airlangga

3.3.2 Cumulative Achievement Index (GPA)

GPA is one indicator that is able to measure the

ability possessed by accounting students during the

undergraduate education (S1). This variable is

measured by using 2 categories of groups that

include groups of students with GPA <3.00 with

code 1 and groups of students with GPA> 3.00 with

the code 2. Questions about grade point average

(GPA) owned by students is measured by using 1

item of question contained in the research

instrument.

3.3.3 Gender

In this study, gender variables are believed to affect

the intention of accounting students to get higher

education. This variable is measured by using two

categories of groups that included male students

group with code 1 and group of female students with

code 2.

3.3.4 Scholarships

Scholarships are gifts given to individuals by

government and private parties in the form of

financial assistance used to assist the continuity of

education pursued by the individual. In this study,

career prospect variables aimed to find out how

much influence with the intention of Universitas

Airlangga accounting program students to continue

to the higher level of study (PPAk and S2). The

scholarship variable is measured using 8 items of

questions contained in questionnaire-based research

instruments. The items will then be measured using

the 4 Likert scale.

3.3.5 Intention to Continue Studies

Intention by Slameto (2013: 180) is a person's

interest in something that a person is not forced by

others to like it. Accounting students wishing to

continue the Study Program will be overwhelmed by

intention that may be affected by several factors. In

this variable the respondent's answer of interest will

be measured using 4 Likert scale and were measured

using 14 items of questions contained in research

instruments.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Results

4.1.1 Factors Influencing Accounting

Students’ Intention in Continuing to

PPAk

Table 1: Multiple regression results (PPAk).

Variable

Standarized

Coefficients

hitun

t table

Sig.

Std.

Error

Career

Prospects

(X1)

0,571

0,144

3,958

1.663

GPA (X3)

1,945

0,974

1,998

1.663

0,048

Gender (X5)

0,105

0,736

0,143

1.663

0,886

Scholarship

(X7)

0,837

0,126

6,655

1.663

Adjusted R Square = 0,394

F hitung = 17,892

F table = 2,70

Sig = 0,000

Based on Table 1, the regression coefficient value of

career prospects (X1) is 0.571 with a significance

value of 0.000. Therefore, the first hypothesis stating

that career prospects affect the intention of

accounting students to continue PPAk study

program is accepted. Quite the same as Hypothesis

1, Hypothesis 3 is also accepted since the value of

regression coefficient of GPA (X3) is 1.945 with

significance value of 0.048. However, the value of

gender variable regression coefficient (X5) is 0.105

with a significant value of 0.886. Thus gender has no

significant influence on the intention of accounting

students in continuing studies to PPA, therefore, the

third hypothesis stating that Gender has an effect on

JCAE Symposium 2018 – Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics Symposium 2018 on Special Session for Indonesian Study

the intention of accounting students to continue the

PPAk study program is rejected.

Moreover, based on table 1, the value of

regression coefficient of the scholarship variable

(X4) is 0.837 with significance value of 0.000.

Therefore, the seventh hypothesis which states that

the scholarship has an effect on the intention of

accounting students to continue the PPAk is

accepted.

4.1.2 Factors Influencing Student’s Interest

in Continuing to Master of Accounting

(S2)

Tabel 2: Multiple regression result (S2).

Variable

Standarized

Coefficients

hitung

t table

Sig.

Std.

Error

Career

Prospects

(X2)

0,778

0,153

5,075

1.663

0,000

GPA (X4)

1,845

1,02

1,808

1.663

0,074

Gender (X6)

0,713

0,785

-0,909

1.663

0,366

Scholarship

(X8)

0,713

0,127

5,598

1.663

0,000

Adjusted R Square = 0,450

F hitung = 22,302

F table = 2,70

Sig = 0,000

Based on Table 2, the value of regression coefficient

of career prospects (X2) is 0.778 with a significance

value of 0.000. Therefore, the second hypothesis that

the career prospects affect the interest of accounting

students to continue S2 is accepted. Same as

Hypothesis 2, Hypothesis 4 is also accepted since

the value of the regression coefficient of GPA (X4)

is 1.845 with significance value equal to 0,074.

Therefore, the fourth hypothesis stating that GPA

affect the intention of accounting students to

continue S2 is accepted. However, the value of

gender variable regression coefficient (X6) is -0.713

with a significance value of 0.366. Therefore, the

second hypothesis that the career prospects affect the

accounting students’ intention to continue S2 is

rejected.

Moreover, the value of regression coefficient of

the scholarship variable (X8) is 0.713 with a

significance value of 0.000. Therefore, the second

hypothesis which states that the scholarship affects

the intention of accounting students to continue S2 is

acceptable.

4.2 Discussion

4.2.1 The Influence of Career Prospects on

Accounting Students’ Intention in

Continuing PPAk and S2 of

Accounting

The results for both Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2

show that career prospects significantly influence

the students’ intention in getting higher education.

This indicates that accounting students have high

expectations of high career prospects if they are able

to study after graduation either follow the program

of study of PPAk or S2 (Puspitarini and

Kusumawati, 2011; Aryani and Erawati, 2016). The

higher level of education is taken then the greater the

career prospects that are owned. By continuing the

education either in PPAk or S2, a person can achieve

a higher position in an agency structure or institution

such as managers and directors who require an

individual to have a minimum level of magisterial

education to achieve the position. In addition, the

opportunity to obtain employment is higher if it has

a high level of education compared with low

education level. Thus, a person's career prospects

can be influenced by the level of education the

individual has.

4.2.2 The Influence of GPA on Accounting

Students’ Intention in Continuing

Study Program PPAk and S2

Based on the results, it is proved that GPA

significantly influences the intention of accounting

students in continuing the study. These results

Accounting Student’s Intention: Higher Education or Go Straight to Works ? Empirical Study on S1 Accounting Student of Universitas

Airlangga

indicate the alignment with the results of research

conducted by Puspitarini and Kusumawati (2011)

which states that the motivation of achievement of

GPA has a significant influence on the intention of

accounting students to follow PPAk. This is because

students assume if they have a high GPA then the

motivation to continue education to the next level is

also higher. This is because the level of education

after accounting degree program, both PPAk and

accounting masters education has a wider scope of

knowledge than at the undergraduate level so it

appears that students with high GPA are more

interested in continuing to higher education because

they are considered more master of accounting

science at the undergraduate level with their GPA.

Thus, the GPA achievement factor may affect the

intention of accounting students in continuing the

study, either to the PPAk study program or the

master degree (S2) of accounting.

4.2.3 The Influence of Gender on

Accounting Students’ Intention in

Continuing PPAk and S2 of

Accounting

The results of this study indicate that gender

variables do not have a significant effect on student

interest to continue studies either to PPAk or S2.

This indicates that the students’ intention in

continuing the study has no relation with the

student's gender. This may be due to the similarity

between male and female students. The motivation

from self that can determine each student wants to

continue study or not is unrelated with gender. In

addition, students who choose to work after

graduation can continue their studies in PPAk or

master's degree (S2) accounting at off-the-clock time

e.g. by taking night classes so as not to interfere with

their working time. Therefore, anyone can decide to

continue their studies regardless of their gender.

Thus the gender factor does not affect the interest of

accounting students in continuing the study of PPAk

and S2.

4.2.4 Effect of Scholarship on Accounting

Students’ Intention in Continuing

Study Program of PPAk and S2 of

Accounting

The results of this study indicate that the scholarship

has a significant influence on the interest of

accounting students in continuing study either to

PPAk or S2. The results obtained are aligned with

research conducted by Anggraeni (2016) which

states that the scholarship offer information partially

affects the intention to continue study to S2. This

shows that scholarships can help students to help

them pursue higher studies related to cost issues

because of the high cost of education on PPAk and

S2 programs can be a scourge for students especially

from the less fortunate. Scholarships can help those

who are constrained in cost issues so that students

can continue their studies to a higher level. In

addition, the large number of scholarship offers from

both government and private parties can increase

students’ intention in continuing their studies. The

more scholarships offered the greater the student's

interest in continuing the study by trying the

opportunity. Thus, the scholarship factor may affect

the intention of accounting students in continuing

PPAk and S2 studies.

5 Conclusions

Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded

as follows: First, career prospects significantly

influence the accounting students’ intention in

getting higher education. It implies that higher level

of education is taken then the greater the career

prospects that are owned. Moreover, the second

factor which is GPA, proven to have significant

influence on the intention of accounting students in

continuing the study. The higher level of education

is taken then the greater the career prospects that are

owned. Meanwhile, gender is proven to not have a

significant effect on students’ intention to continue

studies either to PPAk or S2. It emphasizes that the

motivation from self that can determine each student

wants to continue study or not is unrelated with

gender. Lastly, the research result showed that the

scholarship has a significant influence on the

intention of accounting students in continuing study

either to PPAk or S2. The more scholarships offered

JCAE Symposium 2018 – Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics Symposium 2018 on Special Session for Indonesian Study

the greater the students’ intention in continuing the

study by trying the opportunity.

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Accounting Student’s Intention: Higher Education or Go Straight to Works ? Empirical Study on S1 Accounting Student of Universitas

Airlangga