How cognitive complexity affects accounting career paths

The demands of the accounting workplace have become increasingly complex. Abstract-thinking individuals are better able to process a wider variety of inputs and presumably better able to function in the complex environments. A stated goal of accounting education has been to attract and retain students who are suited to the accounting profession. These students are believed to be the more abstract-thinking individuals. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to investigate whether or not individuals in the various accounting career paths differ with regard to level of cognitive complexity and (2) to investigate whether or not more cognitively complex individuals (abstract-thinking) are rewarded by the profession.

In 1988, the cognitive complexity of 494 accounting graduates from the classes of 1980, 1981, and 1982 were measured using the Paragraph Completion Test. This sample was selected from four different universities: James Madison University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Tennessee, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and analysis of covariance.

Results indicate that cognitive complexity does not differ among accounting graduates pursuing various career paths within accounting. More importantly, individuals who have elected to leave accounting do not exhibit a different level of cognitive complexity. Results do suggest that the profession does, in fact, reward abstract-thinking individuals since more abstract individuals were found to earn higher incomes.