Abstract The Accounting Education Change Commission has called on accounting professors to inform their students about accounting work environments. This emphasis is timely because a growing body of evidence suggests that many accounting students leave the academic setting with inaccurate perceptions about the professional work environment. This cross-sectional study assesses the correspondence between accounting professors' and students' perceptions of the public accounting work environment by comparing first-term junior accounting students', last-term senior accounting students' and accounting professors' perceptions of that environment. The study also examines the extent that students look to professors and other sources for relevant information about work in public accounting. The results indicate few significant differences between juniors' and seniors' perceptions, but reveal significant differences between professors and both student groups. Although both student groups believe professors are the most important source of information about the public accounting work environment, the findings in this study suggest that faculty members' perceptions of that environment are not mirrored in student perceptions. These results support the AECC's emphasis on professors taking more active roles in informing students about what they can expect in practice. Moreover, this study's findings provide impetus for future research on the accuracy of accounting professors' perceptions of accounting practice and the influence accounting professors have on student perceptions.
DeZoort et al. (Mon,) studied this question.