How students view the accounting profession
A survey finds that students form perceptions of the accounting profession early — even before they enter college.
In the last several years, the number of students majoring in accounting has declined significantly. The latest AICPA 2021 Trends report shows some sobering statistics, including a 2.8% decrease in accounting bachelor’s graduates in the 2019–2020 academic year, an 8.4% decrease in accounting master’s graduates, and a 17% decrease in new CPA Exam candidates. At many universities this trend seems to be continuing through 2022 and 2023.
While this decline clearly poses a challenge for educators in recruiting new students, its effects extend well beyond business schools. Other key stakeholders — including employers, businesses, and society — have only recently been forced to contend with a reduced accounting pipeline. Public accounting firms will find it harder to hire the number of new graduates they have typically recruited annually. In addition, the business community could suffer from having fewer professionals with accounting expertise. Lastly, current accountants may be asked to work longer hours to make up for the dwindling number of accounting professionals entering the workplace.
We, all accounting faculty members at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, gathered data from more than a thousand of Miami’s students to help us better understand the nature of the problem and ultimately make more informed decisions to resolve it.
SURVEY BACKGROUND
Miami University is ranked among the top 50 national public universities by U.S. News & World Report and had an enrollment of more than 16,500 undergraduate students in 2021. Miami University’s student body largely takes classes in person on campus. Its accounting programs are well respected: Miami University’s accountancy bachelor’s and master’s programs consistently rank in the top 25 nationally.
During the fall semesters of 2021 and 2022, we asked students in Miami University’s “Introduction to Financial Accounting” and “Intermediate Financial Accounting I” courses to participate in an optional, anonymous survey about their perceptions of the accounting profession. These courses are taken by both accountancy and nonaccountancy majors, and we were curious to see how the profession is viewed by both groups of business students. We were also curious to note any differences in perception between accounting and nonaccounting majors.
The survey presented a series of statements asking students to indicate their agreement on a scale of 1, “Strongly disagree,” to 5, “Strongly agree.” The survey asked students about their perceptions related to job opportunities and salary potential in accounting, among other things. We collected and analyzed 1,411 responses. About 15% of the respondents had chosen to pursue a degree in accounting.
HOW STUDENTS VIEW THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION
Overall, students agreed with statements suggesting that ample and varied job opportunities are available with an accounting degree (see the chart, “Students’ Perceptions of the Accounting Profession,” below). They also tend to agree that an accounting-related career can be intellectually challenging and fulfilling. Overall, students also agree that accountants have good earning potential right out of college, as well as good lifetime earning potential. The survey also showed that students disagree that the CPA Exam was the hurdle impacting their choice of major.
However, the survey results also reveal that students feel an accounting career requires longer hours and that the day-to-day tasks are less interesting than other business careers. In addition, an accounting degree is perceived to be harder to earn than degrees for some other business majors. Understanding these hurdles makes it easier to address the supply chain problem.
NONACCOUNTING MAJORS VIEW ACCOUNTING MORE NEGATIVELY
To better understand why business students chose to pursue or, more importantly, not to pursue an accounting degree, we performed statistical analyses on the responses of accounting and nonaccounting students. The discussion below highlights the startling differences between how these groups of students perceive the accounting profession.
Nonaccounting majors were much less likely to believe accounting has higher starting salaries or leads to higher career earning potential (questions 5 and 3, respectively). They also perceived that being an accountant requires working longer hours than other careers and provides fewer career opportunities than other majors (questions 7 and 1, respectively).
Perhaps even more concerning than the perceptions related to money is the fact that nonaccounting majors perceived an accounting career as being monotonous and less fulfilling (question 8), less interesting (question 10), and less intellectually challenging (question 2). Interestingly, accounting majors are more likely than nonaccounting majors to view an accounting major as more difficult than other majors (question 6).
Nonaccounting majors were also more likely than accounting majors to say the CPA Exam requirement made them not want to pursue an accounting degree (question 9).
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE PROFESSION
We also asked students when they chose their major. Fifty-two percent said they selected their major prior to entering college, while another 21% chose their major during their first year. Only 27% of students had yet to choose their major by the time they entered their second year.
Our data shows that we need to address these negative perceptions of the profession early. Accountancy departments should pursue several actions during students’ first year, if not earlier, to better explain accounting career opportunities and attract students to the major. These efforts likely will require significant involvement by the profession to better inform students and correct their commonly held misconceptions of the accounting profession.
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
The accounting supply chain problem will eventually affect a wide group of stakeholders. However, we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to do something to resolve it.
What can colleges and universities do?
Accounting faculty need to proactively engage students at a very early stage of career selection. We need to make sure that we share the objective facts about starting salaries and career salary growth, as well as the wide array of interesting career opportunities in the profession. Our data revealed that many students fail to perceive the fulfilling nature of the careers and employment opportunities that an accounting education can provide across industries (question 8) or the potentially highly interesting nature of accounting work (question 10). It is critical that faculty dispel these misconceptions so young students can make informed choices about their majors and careers.
What can members of the profession do?
The AICPA and other groups have developed materials that can be used as early as high school and the first year of college to show the true nature of accounting (see “AICPA Resources” for details). Students can also learn more about the profession at ThisWaytoCPA.com.
Accounting firms and individuals should volunteer to speak at high schools and universities and use their social media presence to share the exciting and diverse work they do. Industry groups and firms can provide transparency related to salary data (both early and at later career stages) and actual hours worked. Widely sharing exciting accounting “success” stories is critical.
CONCLUSION
We encourage readers to explore other data around the accounting pipeline, including the previously mentioned AICPA 2021 Trends report, as well as the Center for Audit Quality’s recent study. We are in the early stages of discovery and encourage others to gather data and add input on this important topic.
Accounting is a great profession, and it is important to preserve it. It is on all of us to better inform students on the reality of our profession. Hopefully, if professors and professionals act now, we can address many of the perceptions and successfully increase the number of future accountants.
About the authors
William Brink, CPA, Ph.D., is an associate professor of accountancy; Tim V. Eaton, Ph.D., is the Arthur Andersen Alumni professor of accountancy; and Dan Heitger, Ph.D., is the Deloitte professor of accountancy, all at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, email joaed@aicpa.org.
AICPA RESOURCES
Online resources
Draft Plan to Accelerate Talent Pipeline Solutions
Article
“What Everyone Can Do to Strengthen the Next Generation of CPAs,” JofA, Sept. 1, 2022
Podcast episodes
“New Strategies to Grow the Profession’s Pipeline,” JofA, March 24, 2022
“Lessons in Building the Accounting Pipeline From ENGAGE 2021,” JofA, July 29, 2021
