The Effect Of Gender And Knowledge On Students Impressions Of Accountants In The Post-Enron Era

Abstract

This study examines college students’ impressions of accountants from various sources. It extends previous research on students’ impressions of accountants by analyzing impressions after Enron, gender differences in impressions, and the effect of knowledge on impressions and adding news reports as an impression source. Students rated their impressions of accountants when they selected a major on each of 30 characteristics (such as ethical, versatile, and exciting) from each of four sources, plus a general rating. When qualities were combined into two factors, Professionalism and Personability, accountants were seen as professional, but not particularly personable. In many areas, finance majors had impressions of accountants equal to or higher than those of accounting students, while other majors had significantly lower impressions of accountants. News reports did not significantly influence students’ views of accountants. Knowledge was strongly correlated with impressions. Accounting students had the lowest knowledge of accountants from news reports and movies/TV of any major. Females held more positive impressions of accountants than did males. Implications for various groups, including college and high school accounting education and the accounting profession, are discussed.