Exploring auditors’ stereotypes: the perspective of undergraduate students

AbstractWe report the results of a study that examines university students’ perceptions about the public image of auditors through their stereotypes and their changes in attitudes after an extra-curricular activity with professionals, sponsored by a well-known and prestigious professional organisation of auditors in Spain. In our experimental study, we examine whether real life contact for students is a way to change their stereotypes on the auditing profession.Participants completed a preliminary and also a post-survey, both pen-and-paper, in order to analyse the students’ final impressions and the evolution of their perception of auditors’ stereotypes. Both surveys were divided in three different sections: demographic data, general perceptions towards the activity, and 30 questions with regard to the perceptions of an average auditor compared to an average individual. Results indicate that, indeed, the activity changed the students’ view to consider auditors as more warm, more available to work in teams, more modest, more tender-minded, and less impulsive