Is Accounting Right For Me

Is Accounting Right for me?

Alondra Alejandra Miranda
Rhetoric and Composition 1301
Professor Joanna Hinojosa
Introduction
The discipline of accounting is a part of the Business Administration College. This
discipline studies courses in financial, managerial, coast, tax, systems, international, not-forprofit accounting and business law (UTEP College of Business Administration, 2014). This
discipline has 10 faculty members. The college of business is located directly behind the library
at the UTEP campus. Accounting is a unique major because it is said to be one of the most
difficult majors in the business college.
I chose this field because I wanted to be in the college of business. Since I love working
with things that involve numbers, I figured accounting would be the best option. I am not 100%
sure about this major because there are other majors that involve dealing with numbers. I think it
would be interesting to know why it is said that accounting is the most difficult major.
1. What does this discipline value?
2. What is the assumed knowledge?
3. What is the power/knowledge of the discipline?
These research questions are effective for my paper because they will help me understand
my major more. In this report, I have found how I can become an insider to the discourse
community of accounting, and become a better student through the information I found. It will
also help me decide whether accounting is right for me.
Background
From my own understanding of accounting, I knew that the major was involved with
numbers. Students choose majors because they like it or they are good at that specific field. I
chose accounting because I am good with numbers and I like numbers! But I learned throughout
the research of this paper that accounting is more than just numbers. I learned what accountants
actually do which is keeping financial records of business transactions and how to prepare
statements concerning assets, liabilities, and operating results (The Princeton Review, 2014). I
also learned that accountants are a major part of a business/company. That is why accounting is
a rapidly growing profession (The Princeton review, 2014).
The research questions I have chosen for this paper are effective. They are effective
because they go in depth of my major. They make me look into my major very closely so, that I
could get the best knowledge necessary to be successful. The purpose of this project is for me to
understand the major I have chosen.
Methodology
Data methods
The types of data I had to collect were beneficial because they were mostly academicrelated. In other words, most of my data came from my campus. It would be unnecessary to
investigate information from another university because the curriculum and many other things
would be different than from UTEP. Of course not all the data I collected is directly from the
campus.
Data Collection
Interviews
As for my interview discussion, it is unavailable. I emailed two professors: one
did not reply and the other unfortunately did not have enough time. As a result of
this, I did attend an accounting workshop to help me make up for not being able
to conduct an interview. The workshop was very informative. The workshop was
conducted by two current students and a professor.
Survey
Since I could not conduct a direct interview with a professor, I could not conduct
a survey as well. The only information I was able to get from students
perspectives was from the workshop. The students at the workshop explained
their experiences in accounting and I took that into consideration for this paper.
Documents
Out of the many documents I searched for, only one was somewhat helpful for
me. The document is called Is Accounting an Academic discipline? This
document is important for the accounting department because their field is being
questioned if whether or not it is an actual discipline. I chose this document
because it brought up good points about this major.
Site of Observation
The sites I observed were the lobby and a class inside the college of business
building. Both observations were about an hour each at the most. As for the
lobby, it is very quiet place. Most of its lighting is natural lighting due to the large
windows all around. The lobby is filled with sofas and tables with chairs, enough
for many students to fit. In this place, a lot of business events occur like the
Business Fashion Show and important guest speakers. As for the classroom, the
one I observed was big; it looked sort of like a small version of an auditorium. It
was not a colorful room, it only had one color all on the walls and the only
abstract color was the green board (Appendix A).
Data Coding
It was very difficult for me to make sense of the information I gathered. I did not
really know what information was important and what information was not important. At
the end, I tried coding my data by asking myself if the information was important but to
my paper specifically; or at least somewhat relatable to my paper. I had to look back at
the module several times to keep me in the right direction.
Discussion
What does this discipline value?
For the purpose of this major, according to the module, the things disciplines value are
courses, special courses, publications, clubs/organizations and scholarships/internships. To be
clear, I am not talking about the actual values like moral values. As for the courses, accounting
values their courses in financial, managerial, cost, tax, systems, international and business law
(UTEP College of Business, 2014). Special courses I found valuable were ethics, software
applications and global business. These courses are special to the major because the department
put these courses in the curriculum so that students could learn more than accounting courses.
They are special for the department because it is important for students to know how to value
ethics and the global environment of business. Without these special courses, a student would not
be as successful.
Accounting also values clubs and organizations. I came to this conclusion when I found
out it was mandatory for business students, especially freshman, to attend the business club and
organization fair. The department values that students take part in the clubs. The clubs and
organizations available for accounting students specifically are the Accounting Society,
Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) and Beta Alpha Psi.
The department also values the opportunity of scholarships and internships. That is why
they promote clubs and organizations so much because students through clubs/organizations get
a lot of internship and scholarship opportunities. In the accounting workshop, the speakers
mentioned that almost everyone in their club got either a scholarship or a good job internship.
They value that students get the most possibilities for their career, not just a diploma.
To summarize, the majority of my question has been answered. I say majority because
maybe there are more things that the department values that I did not get a chance to investigate.
The things that my department values are important because, the things that they value will help
me become a more successful student.
What is the assumed knowledge?
For the purpose of this paper, assumed knowledge is the things I should know before my
first accounting class. There is a reason why freshman do not take an accounting class their first
year of college. But why? Because there are certain things students need to know first in order to
help them understand accounting better. For example, since accounting is involved with a lot of
numbers students first need to take math 1320 and math 2301. Accounting students do not take
Math 1301 because they need math skills at a higher level.
Other courses, besides the basics of college, include the introduction to global business,
ethics, principles of economics and business communications. These courses have to be taken
before or during your first accounting class. Students need to have the assumed knowledge of
ethics. Students need to understand at least the basics of how global business works. Students
need to know how the economy works in society. And lastly, students need to know how to talk
like business people do. All these courses will help students have a little bit of business
knowledge before going into their specific major. You cannot go into an accounting class, not
knowing anything about business.
In conclusion, the majority of my question has been answered. Once again I say
majority because I did not go in detail of what future accountants need to know. All professors
are different therefore all accounting classes are different in a way. Maybe some professors
require students to know something specific and other professors require students to know
something different.
What is the knowledge/power of the discipline?
For the better understanding of my question, according to the class module,
knowledge/power consists of degrees, scholarships, leadership positions, internships and GPAs.
Students obtain power when they receive their degree. Students have that degree in their hands or
on our way because they have knowledge of their career. Students have the power to get
scholarships depending on their knowledge. Students have to the power to gain a leadership
positions in clubs or organizations. Students can achieve leaderships positions if they have the
knowledge for that position that are aiming for. Students have the power to get good internships
in companies when they prove they have the knowledge and ability for that internship position.
Lastly, students GPA is a reflection of their knowledge and students have the power to change
their GPA. I mention all of this because all these factors connect with each other in one way or
another.
I came to this conclusion because the person in power is always the one who had the
accounting degree in the room or the student who had a leadership position in a club or the
students who got the internship. And all of this is obtained through knowledge. I know now that
I can have power and knowledge in my disciplinary. For example, accounting students can
achieve power by becoming president of an organization. Students prove their knowledge of
their discipline when achieving their accounting diploma. Accounting students have the
knowledge and power to get that important internship they have been working for.
In conclusion, my question has been answered. Now I know that in the future I can have
the power in the room one day and the knowledge necessary to get an internship. I have the
power to become a leader in a club one day. I know how I can prove my knowledge in
accounting and how I can have power in accounting.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my argument about the discipline of accounting is relative to the culture of it. The
culture of accounting has an environment that is full of opportunities everywhere and help
available. My research for this paper helped me prove that. I believe accounting has a good
culture of the things the department values. I conclude that what remains to be explored cannot
be done until we, the students, experience it for ourselves. We did this research about our major
but I believe the only way we will truly learn about the culture is to actually be inside the
discourse community and experience it. As for the ramifications, I believe the result of this, is
that we gained knowledge. Knowledge that we did not know before, that will help us today and
our tomorrows as students. I hope that high school seniors benefit from my research as much as I
did. It is very beneficial for high school seniors to know more about their major in their future
college whether it is here at UTEP or another university. Having this knowledge will help them
become confident students when they enter their discourse community.
10
Bibliography
Accounting Society. (2014, October 20). Accounting workshop. Location: College of Business.
Accounting Department. (2014). Accounting and information systems website. Retrieved from
http://business.utep.edu/AIS
The Princeton Review. (2014). The Princeton Review website. Retrieved from
http://www.princetonreview.com/Majors.aspx?cip=520301&page=1
Mathew, R. (2013). UTEP by the numbers. Retrieved from
http://research.utep.edu/Portals/99/proposaldev/orsp%20workshops/Spring2013/UTEP%20by%20the%20Numbers%20%204%2010%2013.pdf
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Appendices
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Appendix A
Site Observation Notes
The classroom was not colorful; only color was from the tables and chairs and from the
green board
Looks like a little auditorium; considered a large classroom
Person in power need to stand in the front to be seen
No desks, only long table rows
Small sized windows and not so many of them
Temperature room; not too cold not too hot
Speakers were loud and clear
Lobby is colorful
Plenty of sofas and tables and chairs
Natural lighting from big windows
Carpet floor
Very quiet place
Students are reading or on a device

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