An intra-cultural study on accounting students' and practitioners' perceptions of accountants and accounting in Vietnam

This study focuses on the images (perceptions) of accountants and accounting in Vietnam. The first objective of the study is to compare the perceptions of the three groups of respondents, including first- and fourth-year accounting students and practising accountants. It was revealed that the respondents' perceptions differed in 12 out of the 17 traits of accountants, and four out of the six characteristics of accounting. Fourth year students held the least favourable images, while practitioners were the most positive evaluators. The images of the accountants were positively perceived, while those of the accounting profession only received neutral evaluations. The second objective of the study is to verify the relationships between perceptions of accountants/accounting and other demographic and attitudinal variables. Using the data gathered from the practising accountant sample, the analysis revealed that the respondents' perceptions could be significantly affected by their sex, education and position on the one hand, and could significantly influence their intention on the other. Implications for accounting education in Vietnam are discussed based on these findings.