Factors Associated with Under-Performance of Accounting Students: Evidence from a Nigerian Public University

Abstract

There is a need to introduce corrective measures for accountants to improve their performance. Due to technical incompetence of accounting graduates, most industries are reluctant to hire fresh accounting graduates, because the anticipated practical knowledge is apparently missing and performance does not correlate with the degree they possess. The fundamental reason behind this challenge is students’ ineptness to cope with the rigorous activities associated with accounting courses while undergoing their training. This study examines the underlying factors connected with students’ failing to acquire accounting competencies. The study used a survey approach to sample the opinion of 217 final year accounting students of 2019-2020 session of a Nigerian public university who had failed an accounting course at least once. The same approach was applied while collecting information from the lecturers whose courses were repeated by the students at any level of this program. The structured questionnaire helped to capture the psychological issues connected with information processing challenges and other encounters linked with procrastination. The study finds evidence that class absenteeism, lack of commitment to studies, phone and social media addiction, choice of career by parents, lack of team work, lack of study materials, poor mathematical and accounting background, failure to do assignments, short duration of learning period, poor rate of assimilation, lack of retentive memory, and family and personal challenges contribute immensely to the students underperformance in accounting courses. The study recommends extra classes for students at risk of failure and government support for improved educational system in the country.