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It’s all well and good that the youths think better of accounting. But that doesn’t do much if they all think fondly of accountants while working somewhere—anywhere—else.
According to a new Center for Audit Quality survey of nearly 3,500 US high school students and recent graduates, a growing number of young people see accounting as a good career path and an asset to companies, compared to a similar survey a few years ago.
“It’s encouraging to see growing interest among students,” Julie Bell Lindsay, CEO of CAQ, said in a statement. “This is proof that when we listen, learn, and adapt, we can positively impact the talent pipeline.”
But as the results show, a better perception of accounting doesn’t necessarily translate to more people pursuing it as a career.
The survey showed mixed results in students’ openness jobs in accounting. Researchers called particular attention to an unchanged level of interest among Black students, “despite maintaining relatively high openness to the field,” and a continued gender gap—fewer women than men express interest in the profession.This may be partly explained by the finding that females are less likely than their male counterparts to personally know an accountant, highlighting the importance of representation and personal connections.
Breaking down the numbers. The survey did show notable gains across the board when asking respondents if they thought accounting “add[s] real value at a company/organization,” whether accountants “have a positive impact on society,” if accounting careers were always in demand, and whether the field offered “long-term earning potential.”
But the survey revealed “both opportunities and challenges in attracting diverse students to accounting.”
Regardless of gender and ethnicity, students expressed slightly less initial interest in an accounting career than in 2021. Researchers found an uptick in Hispanic, Asian, and white respondents who said they’re “interested” in accounting, a couple of steps farther down the accounting talent “funnel” from initial openness. Roughly the same number of Black students (about a third) expressed interest in accounting compared with four years ago.
The percentage of those who said they were “very interested” in an accounting career only changed by a couple of percentage points, save for Hispanic students, among whom strong interest grew from 10% to 15%.
There was also not a whole lot of movement where it really counts for the profession. The percentage of respondents who chose to major or minor in accounting either ticked up very slightly or remained flat from 2021. The biggest uptick came from Black students, 2% of whom said they were studying accounting, up from 0%.