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Effect of Accounting Career Guidance on Career Decision-Making among Accounting Education Students in Nigeria

Abstract

The changing nature of the accounting profession has created a growing range of career opportunities for accounting graduates across areas such as financial accounting, auditing, taxation, management accounting, forensic accounting, financial technology, data analytics, sustainability reporting, public sector accounting, and accounting information systems. Despite these opportunities, some accounting education students may have limited knowledge of available career pathways, professional qualifications, occupational requirements, and emerging roles within the accounting profession. Inadequate career information and limited exposure to professional opportunities may make it difficult for students to evaluate career alternatives and make informed career decisions. Accounting career guidance provides students with structured information, counselling, professional exposure, self-assessment opportunities, and support for evaluating career options based on their interests, abilities, values, and professional aspirations. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of accounting career guidance on career decision-making among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Social Cognitive Career Theory, Holland's Career Choice Theory, and Career Construction Theory. Social Cognitive Career Theory explains how self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals, and environmental factors influence career interests and career decisions. Holland's Career Choice Theory emphasizes the relationship between individuals' interests, abilities, personality characteristics, and occupational environments in shaping career choices. Career Construction Theory emphasizes how individuals develop career identities and make career choices by interpreting experiences, personal interests, values, and changing occupational opportunities. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how accounting career guidance may influence students' career decision-making. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate accounting education students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible accounting education students. Accounting career guidance will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of career guidance sessions, individual career counselling, group counselling, career information, professional accounting qualification information, exposure to accounting career pathways, information on emerging accounting roles, career aptitude and interest assessments, skills assessment, professional mentoring, industry interaction, career talks, internship guidance, information on professional bodies, employment information, labour-market information, career-planning activities, curriculum-to-career information, guidance on postgraduate opportunities, digital accounting career information, financial technology career information, and follow-up career support. Career decision-making will be assessed using indicators such as career awareness, identification of suitable accounting career options, clarity of career goals, confidence in career choices, evaluation of career alternatives, knowledge of occupational requirements, alignment between personal abilities and career options, consideration of professional qualifications, understanding of labour-market opportunities, career planning, commitment to selected career pathways, decision-making confidence, ability to gather career information, and ability to make informed career choices. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized career decision-making scales, career knowledge assessments, career-interest inventories, career guidance participation records, counselling records where available, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental design is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, career information sources, career guidance experiences, and levels of career decision-making. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of accounting career guidance on career decision-making. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, career decision-making scores before and after exposure to career guidance may be compared with those of a comparison group receiving conventional academic support to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that accounting career guidance has a significant positive effect on career decision-making among accounting education students in Nigeria. Students who receive structured and relevant career guidance are expected to demonstrate greater awareness of accounting career pathways, stronger knowledge of professional requirements, clearer career goals, and greater confidence in evaluating and selecting suitable career options than students without comparable guidance. Career guidance may help students understand the differences among traditional and emerging accounting roles and identify the knowledge, skills, certifications, and experience required for particular career pathways. Individual counselling and self-assessment activities may further help students align their interests, abilities, values, and competencies with suitable accounting careers. Interaction with accounting professionals and exposure to industry may also provide students with realistic information about workplace expectations, career progression, professional qualifications, and emerging employment opportunities. However, limited availability of qualified career counsellors, inadequate career information, weak university–industry partnerships, limited student participation, insufficient labour-market information, and rapidly changing accounting career requirements may reduce the effectiveness of career guidance. The study therefore expects accessible, structured, professionally informed, and continuous accounting career guidance to contribute significantly to improved career decision-making among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on accounting career guidance, career decision-making, accounting education, career development, Social Cognitive Career Theory, career choice, professional accounting careers, employability skills, career counselling, and higher education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, universities, accounting education departments, career development centres, accounting educators, professional accounting bodies, accounting firms, employers, student support services, curriculum developers, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving students' career preparation. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating accounting career guidance into university accounting education programmes, strengthening career counselling services, providing current information on traditional and emerging accounting careers, increasing students' exposure to accounting professionals, developing career mentoring programmes, incorporating career-interest and competency assessments, strengthening university–industry partnerships, and providing continuous career support that enables accounting education students to make informed and realistic career decisions in Nigeria.

Keywords: Accounting career guidance, career decision-making, accounting education students, career development, career counselling, professional accounting careers, employability skills, career choice, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.