Can an understanding of the accounting function assist with breaking stereotypes?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recruiting talented individuals to the accounting profession has long been a concern of accounting educators, practitioners, and professional accounting associations in both developing and developed countries. In this exploratory study, we examine whether providing non-business college students with a basic knowledge of accounting principles and their application influences their perceptions of the accounting profession and their accounting self-efficacy. Our results indicate that providing non-business college students with a basic knowledge of the accounting function helps to break stereotypes of the accounting profession and serves to make non-business students more confident they could succeed in accounting, thereby providing evidence of a mechanism that may be useful in future recruiting efforts.