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Impact of Professional Role-Model Exposure on Students’ Perception of Accounting as a Career in Nigerian Polytechnics

Abstract

Accounting education plays an important role in preparing students for professional careers by developing relevant knowledge, practical competencies, professional values, and awareness of career opportunities. However, some Accounting Education students in Nigerian polytechnics may have limited exposure to practicing accountants and other accounting professionals who can provide realistic information about the accounting profession, workplace expectations, career pathways, and professional opportunities. Limited professional exposure may influence students’ perceptions of accounting as a career and may affect their level of interest in pursuing accounting-related occupations after graduation. Professional Role-Model Exposure provides students with opportunities to interact with practicing accountants, accounting educators, auditors, financial managers, tax professionals, management accountants, and other accounting practitioners whose experiences and professional achievements may provide realistic examples of accounting career development. Such exposure may improve students’ understanding of the accounting profession, strengthen their appreciation of accounting work, and positively influence their perception of accounting as a career. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of Professional Role-Model Exposure on students’ perception of accounting as a career in Nigerian polytechnics. The study will be anchored on Social Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Career Construction Theory. Social Learning Theory explains how students may acquire attitudes, values, expectations, and career-related behaviours through observing and interacting with professional role models. Social Cognitive Career Theory emphasizes self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals, and environmental influences in shaping students’ educational and career interests. Career Construction Theory explains how individuals develop career meanings and identities through experiences, interactions, and exposure to career narratives. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how Professional Role-Model Exposure may influence students’ perception of accounting as a career. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The population will comprise Accounting Education students enrolled in selected Nigerian polytechnics. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select states, polytechnics, departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible students. Professional Role-Model Exposure will be assessed using indicators such as interaction with practicing accountants, professional guest lectures, accounting career talks, professional mentoring sessions, workplace presentations, practitioner-led workshops, professional networking activities, accounting career seminars, professional panel discussions, workplace experience sharing, professional success stories, exposure to different accounting specializations, information about professional qualifications, discussions of career progression, professional ethics discussions, workplace expectations, employability requirements, professional challenges, career opportunities, professional development pathways, interaction frequency, duration of exposure, accessibility of role models, relevance of professional experiences, quality of professional interaction, opportunity for questions and answers, professional guidance, career advice, mentoring support, networking opportunities, professional demonstrations, workplace case discussions, professional communication, practitioner feedback, professional encouragement, and students’ opportunities to observe authentic accounting work experiences. Students’ perception of accounting as a career will be assessed using indicators such as perceived attractiveness of accounting, perceived usefulness of accounting, perceived relevance of accounting, perceived professional status, perceived career opportunities, perceived job opportunities, perceived income prospects, perceived career stability, perceived professional growth opportunities, perceived opportunities for specialization, perceived opportunities for entrepreneurship, perceived opportunities for self-employment, perceived opportunities for international careers, perceived opportunities for professional advancement, perceived workplace relevance, perceived social value of accounting, perceived professional recognition, perceived suitability of accounting to personal interests, perceived suitability of accounting abilities, perceived confidence in pursuing accounting careers, interest in accounting occupations, willingness to pursue accounting-related employment, willingness to obtain professional accounting qualifications, intention to continue accounting education, intention to pursue accounting specialization, willingness to seek accounting internships, willingness to participate in professional development, willingness to join professional accounting organizations, willingness to interact with accounting professionals, perceived challenges in accounting careers, perceived competitiveness of the profession, perceived workload, perceived professional responsibility, perceived ethical expectations, perceived technological demands, perceived digital-accounting requirements, perceived adaptability requirements, perceived career flexibility, perceived workplace opportunities, perceived career mobility, perceived long-term career prospects, perceived professional identity, and overall perception of accounting as a career. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, professional exposure assessment scales, career perception scales, professional-interaction records, mentoring records, attendance records for career programmes, and relevant institutional documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students’ demographic and academic characteristics, levels of professional role-model exposure, sources of professional exposure, and perceptions of accounting careers. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of Professional Role-Model Exposure on students’ perception of accounting as a career. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, students’ career-perception scores before and after professional role-model exposure may be compared with those of a comparison group without similar exposure 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 Professional Role-Model Exposure has a significant positive impact on students’ perception of accounting as a career in Nigerian polytechnics. Students who interact regularly with accounting professionals are expected to demonstrate more positive perceptions of accounting as a career than students with limited professional exposure. Interaction with practicing accountants may improve students’ understanding of the realities of accounting work. Professional guest lectures may provide students with practical information about career opportunities and workplace expectations. Accounting career talks may increase students’ awareness of different career pathways within the profession. Professional mentoring sessions may provide guidance on educational and career development. Workplace presentations may expose students to practical accounting responsibilities and organizational environments. Practitioner-led workshops may demonstrate how accounting knowledge is applied in professional settings. Professional networking activities may enable students to develop connections with practicing accountants and potential employers. Career seminars may improve students’ awareness of employment opportunities and professional development pathways. Panel discussions may allow students to compare different accounting career experiences and specializations. Professional success stories may strengthen students’ understanding of possible career progression. Exposure to accounting specializations may demonstrate opportunities in auditing, taxation, financial accounting, management accounting, public-sector accounting, forensic accounting, accounting information systems, financial management, consulting, and related fields. Information about professional qualifications may improve students’ understanding of professional development requirements. Discussions of career progression may help students develop realistic expectations about advancement within the accounting profession. Professional ethics discussions may strengthen students’ understanding of integrity, responsibility, confidentiality, and professional conduct. Workplace-expectation discussions may help students understand the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours required by employers. Information about employability requirements may improve students’ preparedness for accounting employment. Discussions of professional challenges may provide realistic perspectives on the difficulties and responsibilities associated with accounting careers. Career-opportunity discussions may increase students’ awareness of available employment and professional pathways. Professional-development discussions may encourage students to pursue additional qualifications and continuous learning. Frequent professional interaction may strengthen students’ familiarity with accounting practitioners. Longer and more meaningful exposure may provide greater opportunities for students to understand professional experiences. Accessible role models may make accounting careers appear more attainable and realistic. Relevant professional experiences may strengthen students’ appreciation of accounting work. High-quality professional interaction may improve students’ understanding of professional responsibilities. Question-and-answer sessions may allow students to clarify misconceptions about accounting careers. Professional guidance may help students make informed educational and career decisions. Career advice may strengthen students’ understanding of how to prepare for professional employment. Mentoring support may increase students’ confidence in navigating accounting career pathways. Networking opportunities may expose students to professional contacts and potential career opportunities. Professional demonstrations may help students connect classroom knowledge with workplace applications. Workplace case discussions may improve students’ understanding of practical accounting problems. Professional communication activities may expose students to appropriate workplace communication practices. Practitioner feedback may help students identify areas for professional development. Professional encouragement may strengthen students’ confidence and motivation to pursue accounting careers. Observation of authentic accounting experiences may help students develop more realistic perceptions of professional accounting work. Improved exposure is expected to increase students’ perception of accounting as attractive, relevant, useful, respected, professionally rewarding, and capable of providing diverse career opportunities. Professional exposure may also improve students’ perception of career stability, professional growth, specialization opportunities, entrepreneurship opportunities, self-employment opportunities, international opportunities, and professional advancement. Interaction with successful professionals may strengthen students’ confidence in their ability to pursue accounting careers. Exposure to different accounting occupations may increase students’ interest in accounting-related employment. Professional guidance may increase students’ willingness to pursue professional accounting qualifications. Positive professional experiences may encourage students to continue accounting education and specialize in areas of interest. Role-model interaction may increase students’ willingness to seek internships and participate in professional-development programmes. Exposure to professional organizations may encourage students to develop professional networks. Realistic discussions of professional challenges may help students develop balanced rather than idealized perceptions of accounting careers. Understanding the competitiveness of the profession may encourage students to develop relevant skills and qualifications. Information about workload and professional responsibility may help students develop realistic career expectations. Discussions of technological demands may improve students’ awareness of digital accounting requirements. Exposure to technology-oriented accounting professionals may strengthen students’ understanding of the importance of digital competence. Discussions of adaptability may encourage students to prepare for changing accounting and business environments. Professional interactions may strengthen students’ perception of career flexibility and workplace opportunities. Exposure to different professional pathways may improve students’ perception of career mobility. Career-development stories may strengthen students’ understanding of long-term professional prospects. Continued interaction with professional role models may contribute to the development of students’ professional accounting identity. However, the effectiveness of Professional Role-Model Exposure may be constrained by limited access to practicing accountants, inadequate university-industry or polytechnic-industry partnerships, insufficient funding for professional engagement programmes, limited opportunities for workplace visits, large student populations, irregular professional-interaction programmes, inadequate mentoring structures, limited participation by accounting practitioners, geographical barriers, scheduling difficulties, weak professional networking platforms, inadequate follow-up after career programmes, students’ limited participation, misconceptions about accounting careers, concerns about professional examinations, perceived difficulty of accounting qualifications, limited information about emerging accounting specializations, and inadequate integration of professional career exposure into Accounting Education curricula. The study therefore expects regular, accessible, relevant, structured, and sustained Professional Role-Model Exposure to contribute significantly to more positive perceptions of accounting as a career among Accounting Education students in Nigerian polytechnics. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Professional Role-Model Exposure, perception of accounting as a career, accounting education, accounting career development, professional socialization, career awareness, career choice, Social Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, Career Construction Theory, professional mentoring, accounting practitioners, career talks, professional networking, accounting specialization, professional qualifications, employability, workplace expectations, professional ethics, professional identity, career readiness, Accounting Education students, Nigerian polytechnics, and accounting education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Board for Technical Education, polytechnic administrators, Accounting Education departments, accounting educators, curriculum developers, professional accounting bodies, practicing accountants, employers, industry partners, career-development units, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening students’ awareness and perception of accounting career opportunities. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating professional role-model programmes into Accounting Education curricula, establishing structured mentoring and practitioner-interaction programmes, strengthening partnerships between polytechnics and accounting organizations, organizing regular accounting career talks and professional workshops, facilitating workplace visits and professional networking opportunities, exposing students to diverse accounting specializations, improving students’ awareness of professional qualifications and career pathways, and providing sustained professional guidance to support informed accounting career decisions among students in Nigerian polytechnics.

Keywords: Professional Role-Model Exposure, perception of accounting as a career, accounting career, accounting education, professional mentoring, career awareness, professional networking, career choice, professional socialization, employability, Accounting Education students, Nigerian polytechnics, Nigeria.