OVERCOMING STEREOTYPES OF FUTURE PROFESSIONALS AT UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Popular media label some professions as dull, enjoyable or brilliant. From the “CSI effect” to the “Masterchef effect”, social media influence the transmission of the image of certain professional groups, guiding many students’ career decisions and affecting their employability. The aims of this paper are twofold: 1) to analyze the stereotypes that undergraduates have about a profession, and 2) how the stereotypical image of a profession can be improved while studying at university. Using a sample of 179 students, a survey was carried out before and after an extracurricular activity in which students were invited to experience a real working day as part of an audit team, that was intended to bring the auditors' daily work closer to the students, using a questionnaire of 48 stereotypes. The obtained results show a clear reduction in negative stereotypes due to real contact with professionals, both for the profession and for professionals’ perceptions. This work shows how contact with the profession improves students’ perception, corroborating the effectiveness of different measures in overcoming stereotypes. The conclusions of this study are particularly relevant for auditing as a public interest profession, whose social acceptance rests on its reputation and legitimacy.