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Abstract 

This study examines the relationships between students’ mindset and performance on an accounting exam and their desire to work for Big-Four accounting firms. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that students with a growth mindset perform better on an exam relative to those with a fixed mindset. Further, students with a growth mindset placed greater priority on working for Big-Four firms relative to those with a fixed mindset. However, contrary to our expectation, students who placed higher priority on working for Big-Four firms perform worse on the exam relative to those who placed a lower priority on working for a Big Four firm. We explore possible explanations for this unexpected result. In summary, this study suggests that mindset plays an important role in students’ aspiration to work for a Big Four firm, but such aspiration does not necessarily translate to better exam performance

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