An Examination of Nontraditional Accounting Students' Communication Apprehension and Ambiguity Tolerance

Abstract

Although accounting programs are attempting to improve students' communication skills, communication apprehension may be hindering those efforts. This exploratory study investigates a largely ignored group in business education research: nontraditional students. The survey of accounting majors described in this article found that nontraditional students were significantly different from traditional students in communication apprehension and a personality variable, tolerance for ambiguity. Apparent gender differences also have implications for developing communication skills programs.