The Meaning of Accounting for Gen Y and Gen Z: Behind the Declining Interest in Accounting Courses

The declining interest in studying accounting programmes has become an increasingly serious challenge in the context of higher education and the accounting world. In this context, the research will utilise Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic methodology to investigate the accounting meanings interpreted by accounting students who are Gen Y and Gen Z students. The purpose of this study is to find out how the accounting interpretations of Gen Y and Gen Z students and to find out how the accounting interpretations of Gen Y and Gen Z students impact the interest in choosing an accounting study programme. The result of this study is that Generation Z has a narrow understanding of accounting and leads to behaviour for material purposes only. This understanding is called the pragmatic type. Meanwhile, generation Y has a different perspective. Generation Y is more idealistic because it attributes meaning to something based on its perspective. The interpretation of accounting from Gen Y and Gen Z students has an impact on the interest in choosing an accounting study programme, namely the current Gen Z who are less interested in accounting because they see accounting as a rigid science that only studies debits and credits. In addition, generation Z also sees that accounting has now been replaced by many systems so that generation Z's interest in choosing an accounting study programme is greatly reduced. Generation Z will be more interested in accounting if accounting science shows sustainability then they will be more interested. Meanwhile, Generation Y tends to pursue stability and job security. They see accounting as a solid choice in terms of career stability and income.