Determinants of Students’ Interest in Learning Quantitative Techniques among Undergraduates in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the interest of Accounting undergraduate students in the field of Accounting Management as well as the main factors that influence this interest. The understanding of the interest and main factors can contribute to the development of accounting education in the area of managerial accounting. A descriptive research with a quantitative approach was done, collecting the data from survey with a questionnaire. The sample consists of 149 Accounting students from four colleges located in Uberlândia-MG/Brazil. To evaluate the results, we opted for exploratory factor analysis. It was found that the factors that motivate students' interest in the area of Management Accounting demonstrate five different characterizations: Expertise on Managerial Accounting; Interest in a career in this field; personal interest in the area of Management Accounting, Quality of teachers form students view of point and Theory vs Practice Relevance. These five identified factors explain 63.93% of the variations of the original measurements, which indicates a good level of data representation. The results of this study contribute to higher education institutions, as these colleges can evaluate the inclusion of management accounting subjects in the curriculum of Accounting undergraduate courses, as well as analyze the students' interest in this area.