Reach out: The profession's future depends on you.

• Author: Dalton, Tom
• Position: Special Report

For discussion sake, let's accept the following:

* Enrollment in accounting programs is declining;

* Qualified candidates are hard to find; and

* Technology-driven careers and majors are stealing away the best and brightest.

Now, we can either sit back and watch a profession we worked hard to build fade away to the annals of history like the blacksmith or Fuller Brush man, or we can take advantage of the opportunities that California's two new pathways to CPA licensure present and reach out to the next generation of CPAs.

DISAPPEARING ACCOUNTING MAJORS

It is well documented that the supply of accounting majors has shrunk dramatically over the last few years. The most likely reasons for declining enrollment are a booming economy during the second half of the decade, together with more exciting entry-level job opportunities for college students--especially in information technology. Also weighing in is a growing perception among college students that accounting is just plain boring.

Dr. Adel Novin at Winston-Salem State University surveyed non-accounting majors in a pilot study regarding their reasons for not choosing accounting as a major. Of the 14 principal reasons given, not one related to the Uniform Accountancy Act's 150-hour requirement. A full 60 percent said that accounting was boring, uninteresting or not enjoyable. Twenty-two percent cited a distain for math or numbers as the reason.

Dr. Novin also surveyed accounting majors to discover their reasons for choosing accounting. Sixty-five percent believed that either the job outlook for accountants was strong or that there was a good potential for a high salary.

So there we have it. Students generally perceive accounting as boring and dull. They will choose accounting in a bad economy when the market is grim because they can "get a job." But in a good economy when demand for college graduates is high, potential accounting majors run the other way.

California CPAs are challenged to respond to the decline in accounting majors. Although there is little that can be done about the economy--and most of us would not wish for a recession simply to increase the supply of accounting graduates--together we can unravel students' misconceptions about our profession.

STUDENT OUTREACH

CalCPA's student outreach program is designed to accurately portray CPAs as business advisers and leaders rather than "number crunchers." Several tools have been developed to aid this effort. The cornerstone is a...