Student s Attitude of Accounting as a Profession: Can the Video "Takin' Care of Business" Make a Difference? INTRODUCTION

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1 Student s Attitude of Accounting as a Profession: Can the Video "Takin' Care of Business" Make a Difference? INTRODUCTION Does the AICPA s video Takin' Care of Business market the accounting profession as dynamic and exciting, thereby countering negative stereotypes students often hold? Do other tools such as articles about accounting careers in the New Accountant magazine have similar effects on students? Should accounting educators devote valuable class time to showing the video or assigning readings? This study uses a reliable attitude scale to determine whether college students positive perceptions of the profession increase after viewing the video and after reading an article with similar content from New Accountant magazine. Students surveyed were enrolled in entry-level accounting courses and included not only those declaring accounting as a major, but a variety of other business and non-business majors as well. The results indicate that both the video and the article were effective tools for increasing attitudes towards the profession, a necessary first step to attracting more accounting majors. PRIOR RESEARCH Prior research has indicated negative perceptions of accounting exist and enrollments are declining. Albrecht and Sack (2001) write that the profession faces a major crisis due to the lack of college students majoring in accounting. From 1990 to 2000, the number of college accounting majors fell from 4% to 2% and the percentage of high school students planning to major in accounting fell from 2% to 1% over the same time period. According to focus groups, the reasons for this decline are numerous and include a misconception of what a career in accounting involves. Many students see accounting as a necessary evil, not as an exciting career path. Berry, O'Bryan, and Swanson (2004) find that high school teachers and counselors also have distorted perceptions of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for success in the accounting profession. "Educators and practitioners need to rectify misconceptions and do a better job of selling the profession s image." (Albrecht & Sack, p. 10). Are students failing to choose accounting as a major because they have a "negative" perception of accountants? Saemann and Crooker (1999) surveyed entry-level students and found that traditional perceptions of accounting tend to discourage more creative students from selecting it as a major with the amount of precision required in the course work being the biggest "turn off". Geiger and Ogilby (2000) measured the effect of change during the semester of student perceptions of accounting and found that students who had declared accounting as their major at the beginning of the course had better overall perceptions of the course. However, both accounting and nonaccounting majors had diminished perceptions of accounting at the end of the term, and the largest perceptual change was boredom. Cohen and Hanno (1993) studied choice of college major and found significant statistical differences between accounting and non-accounting majors: non-accounting majors failed to select accounting as a major because it was too number-oriented and boring (p. 235). Would students have a better understanding of career

2 opportunities as presented in the video or article and a better conception of the discipline if they watched the video? Cory (1992) examined the effect of accounting stereotypes held by students entering college and whether these stereotypes had any impact in their choice of accounting as a major. High school students appeared to have very little information concerning accounting professions. When compared to the other groups (attorneys, bankers, and marketing majors), students rated accountants as dull, indifferent, conservative, and methodical. Cory also provided examples of how accountants were portrayed in the media, arguing that these stereotypes were often used in making career decisions and negative perceptions resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Smith and Briggs (1999) and Beard (1994) provided insight into the role of media and the stereotype of the accountant by studying how accountants have been portrayed in movies over the past fifty years. These stereotypes were oftentimes very powerful, often portraying accountants in an unfavorable light. Since the majority of moviegoers are under age twenty-five, these stereotypes can have an impact on career choices of students who regularly attend the movies (Beard, 1994). Should educators use the classroom to debunk these myths? Several studies have been conducted to determine when and how college students select their major. Paolillo and Estes (1982) compared the career choice differences between accountants, engineers, attorneys, and physicians and found that accountants tended to make a career choice in the first two years of college. TOOLS PROVIDED BY THE PROFESSION To change the attitude towards the profession, the AICPA has produced a professional, image-enhancing video for the intended audience of high school and college students in their first course in accounting. This 15 minute video showcases several young CPAs in industries typically not associated with the profession, including the Seattle Symphony, the New York Jets, New Line Entertainment, and entrepreneurial ventures, including dot.com companies, and is available to accounting educators for use in their classrooms. Another tool available for use by educators is the publication "New Accountant", a free magazine distributed to colleges and universities that have an accounting program. This publication provides information about the profession, including where to find a job, average salaries for different types of accounting positions, and tips for passing professional certifying examinations. Do the video or magazine articles with similar content change the perception or attitude towards the accounting profession? What if, instead, the video has the opposite effect and turns prospective majors away from accounting? Two research questions emerge. First, will the video Takin Care of Business have a positive effect on student attitudes of the accounting profession? Second, will a reading compiled with materials from New Accountant and similar in content to the video Takin Care of Business have a positive effect on student attitudes of the accounting profession?

3 Method and Results Four sections of an entry-level accounting course with a total of 135 students in a medium-sized midwestern university were pretested nine days before the study was conducted with a reliable attitude scale from Howard (1990). The five questions asked participants to rate the accounting profession on a nine-point semantic differential scale (good-bad, desirableundesirable, wise-foolish, beneficial-harmful, and favorable-unfavorable.) Internal reliability using Cronbach s alpha was.76. The pretest was also used to gather demographical information (Table 1). Homogeneity between sections existed (Table 2) allowing the four class sections to be randomly split into two groups one of which read the article and the other viewed the video. The post-test indicated the scale was reliable (alpha =.83) and no significant change in major existed from pretest (M=3.86, SD=1.348) to post-test (M=3.86, SD=1.336), t(118)=0.00, p=1.00 (two-tailed). Responses on both the pre and post-tests were averaged to obtain an overall attitude, and the attitude change was then determined by measuring the difference between those averages. A higher mean score indicated a greater positive change in attitude post-treatment. A paired-samples t-test indicated a significant increase in positive attitude for those who watched the video from pre-test (M=6.6548, SD=1.540) to after treatment (M=7.732, SD=1.066), t(61)=7.611, p=0.000,(one-tailed). Likewise, a paired-samples t-test indicated a significant increase in positive attitude for those who read the article from pre-test (M=6.940, SD=1.640) to post-test (M=7.944, SD=0.962), t(56)=4.792, p=0.000 (one-tailed). Discussion and Conclusion Both the video and the article increase student attitudes towards the accounting profession. Since prior studies indicate that negative stereotypes exist and that decisions to major in accounting are often made in the first few years of college, educators should consider ways to change these negative perceptions. Although class time is a valuable commodity that educators want to use wisely, introductory accounting courses can provide an opportunity for college educators to dispel negative images by presenting the video or assigning readings about accounting careers. Although a more positive attitude towards the profession does not necessarily translate to increased numbers of accounting majors, it is most certainly a first step in that process. This study indicates that tools such as the video and article are an effective means for improving attitudes towards the profession. REFERENCES Albrecht, S.W. & Sack, R. J. (2001). The perilous future of accounting education. The CPA Journal, 71(3), Barry, K.T., O'Bryan, D., & Swanson, P.K. (2004). High school business educators' perceptions of the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by accounting majors relative to other business

4 majors. Accounting Instructors' Report, Spring, Retrieved on August 23, 2004 from Beard, V. (1994). Popular culture and professional identity: Accountants in the movies. Accounting, Organizations, and Society, 19(3), Cohen, J. and Hanno, D.M. (1993). An analysis of underlying constructs affecting the choice of accounting as a major. Issues in Accounting Education, 8 (Fall), Cory, S.N. (1992). Quality and quantity of accounting students and the stereotypical accountant: Is there a relationship? Journal of Accounting Education, 10 (Spring), Geiger, M.A. and Ogilby, S.M. (2000). The first course in accounting: Students perceptions and their effect on the decision to major in accounting. Journal of Accounting Education, 18 (Spring), Howard, D.J. (1990). Rhetorical question effects on message processing and persuasion: The role of information availability and the elicitation of judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 26, Paolillo, J.G., and Estes, R.W. (1982). An empirical analysis of career choice factors among accountants, attorneys, engineers, and physicians. The Accounting Review 57 (October), Saemann, G.P. and Crooker, K.J. (1999). Student perceptions of the profession and its effect on decisions to major in accounting. Journal of Accounting Education, 17(1), Smith, M. and Briggs S. (1999). From bean counter to action hero: Changing the image of the accountant. Management Accounting (London) (January),

5 Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants Characteristic n % n % Gender Male Cumulative GPA Female to Race Caucasian to Other to English first language Yes to No 4 3 Less than Major: Definitely accounting 10 7 Accounting maybe 11 8 Bookkeeping in High School Finance 12 9 Yes Other business major No Non-business Undeclared 10 7 Enjoy Course Year in school Very Much Freshman 12 9 Neutral Sophomore Somewhat Junior Not at all Senior and graduate 7 5 Table 2 Tests of Class Section Homogeneity of Six Variables Mean (Standard Deviation) 1-Way Variable Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 ANOVA Major 4.04 (1.503) 3.62 (1.457) 4.13 (1.212) 3.76 (1.130) Gender Enjoyment School year GPA Bookkeeping p >.10 for all variables