Factors affecting first-year Students’ Choice of Accounting Major

The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize the factors affecting first-year Students’ Choice of accounting major in Iranian universities.

In order to test the research hypotheses, the method of structural equations and Friedman test and component path coefficients were used to prioritize the factors. By studying the literature and surveying new students, the factors affecting the choice of accounting were extracted and a research questionnaire was designed. Then, 239 first-year students of State universities of the country in 2020 from 635 of total student accourding to the Sanjesh Organization's Field selection booklet, were surveyed.

The research results showed that the characteristics of the field, individual characteristics, guiding factors, environmental factors, academic characteristics and university characteristics had a positive and significant effect on the choice of new students, respectively.

Top 10 indicators for choosing a field from the point of view of first-year students, are including prestige, possibility of continuing education at higher levels, independence, university reputation, professional membership, idealism, future career advancement, previous knowledge of accounting, social status, good job prospects and opportunities.

Contribution: 

This study has surveyed first-year students in Iranian university and ranked the factors influencing their decision to choose accounting major.