Abstract:

The employability of accounting graduates has been an issue debated among academicians and industries worldwide. Potential employers have also raised concems that university graduates seem to possess sufficient technical knowledge, but somehow, they lack the required soft skills such as communication and analytical thinking. Nevertheless, such claims have remained as disputes whether or not the assertions are reflecting the graduates. Thus, it should be the concern of all higher learning institutions to produce and ensure that their graduates are marketable and fulfill employers’ expectations. Since the internship program is part of an accounting degree program requirement, this study provides critical insight into its effects on the students’ performance. The study examines the difference in attitude and soft skills acquired through internship programs between different types of employers; audit firms, and non-audit firms as well as between genders. The research also examines whether the attitudes and soft skills competencies acquired would influence the students’ subsequent academic performance. The employers’ perception of the students’ attitudes and soft skills was assessed using structured questionnaires. The employers are required to evaluate 224 accounting students of the Malaysian Public University who had undertaken their six-month intemship period. The seven (7) dimensions of soft skills assessed include general skill and motivation, job competency, interpersonal skill, responsibility, compliance with the working requirement, trainees’ knowledge and ability to communicate. The results provide evidence of an improvement in all the dimensions of attitudes and soft skills except for job competency when having their intemship program with the audit firms rather than the non-audit firms. Female students show better performance in all the dimensions based on comparison between genders. The attitude and soft skills have significantly influence students’ subsequent performance. The findings imply that the internship program incorporated in the degree program is significantly able to prepare and equip graduates with the necessary technical skills, attitudes and soft skills for future accounting professionals and managers.