Introduction According to FRC ( Financial Reporting Council) Number ,The number of students has continued to rise in 2012-2013 period,

but the number of professional accountant / accountants are comparatively small as compared to other professions e.g. Medicine and engineering, and management sciences. The reason so far analyzed behind it is perceptions about this profession which create limitations. Career choice of an individual has become a key phenomenon in the career management literature. Many factors in fact, influence on making the career selection decision Family background, career expectation, educational qualification, skills and competencies, and other personal and cultural factors may lead in making career decision. Further, different persons within the individuals network have greatly influenced on making the career decision. Perhaps, several individuals may set their career goals, depending upon the others guidance students usually overlook their values, interests, personality, strengths and weakness (Galhena, B L and Rathnayake , R M D D, 2011). In Pakistan accounting has evolved with passage of time, when Pakistan attained sovereignty, it received agrarian economy in legacy with more than 80% of its population living in rural areas and earning its livelihood from agricultural sector. The industrial base was very narrow and basic industries were almost non-existent. The backwardness of economy also meant that accountancy was a relatively young profession in the country. It was only with economic development and expansion in industrial sector that the profession of accountancy acquired greater importance and ultimately its present status. In Pakistan most of students choose to join medicine or engineering field rather than to join accountancy profession Accounting is viewed as a profession which provides job guarantee but at the same time some mixed and conflicting perceptions about profession also exist. Accountants are usually considered as meek, boring, and dull because of the occupation to which they relate. The stereotypical attitude about profession is based on certain perceptions. This study will reveal perceptions towards accounting profession by accounting and non-accounting Pakistani students.

Literature review: Researchers have hypothesized that individuals choose occupations based partly on societys stereotypical representation of that career (DeCoster, 1971). The label stereotype has for the first time been used in literature by Walter Lippman in 1922 to describe the process in which individuals use simplification for generalization and organization of perceptions purposes. According to P.Wells (2010), social psychology stereotype theory suggests that perceptions are difficult to change as they are over-determined. The traditional image of accountants is the one of bean counter, associated with such views as introverted, cautious, methodical, shy, timid, and boring High school and early college students prefer to make their careers in medicine and engineering as compared to accounting because of stereotypical attitude associated with accounting. evidence from studies of students and graduates (especially those in accounting) indicates that many decide on their career choices as early as the last two years of high school (Karnes et al., 1997; Jackman and Hollingworth, 2005). However, in analyzing across disciplines, Paolillo and Estes (1982) found that less than 25% of accountants chose their profession before college. This is in sharp contrast to about 75% of mechanical engineers and 64% of physicians who tend to choose their careers prior to college entry. More than a decade later, these percentages did not appear to vary significantly, according to Hermanson and Hermanson (1995) study the results are almost same. Perceptions of accounting and accountants consist of a complex set of interwoven technical and personal images that differ across groups of observers and evolve over time (Enis, 1998). Bougen (1994) suggests this complexity is due to the blurring of the personal characteristics of members of the profession with the requirements of tasks they are presumed to perform. The lack of readily available information on the actual duties performed by accountants ensures that accounting remains a mystery to many. Brass (2004) argues that accountants are to be blame for the misconceptions as they have never attempted to correct the scorekeeping image which is widely held. According to the AICPA (2000), most high school and college students cannot accurately describe the work of accountants, their responsibilities or the opportunities available in the accounting profession. Trait and Factor theory have been widely used by researchers to determine factors which can affects a personss career choice.Super et al (1996) theory evolved from trait factor theory which gave concept of self-concept. This is a perceived image that career seekers have or would like to have toward certain occupations. applying this theory De Coster & Rhode (1971) and Buckley & McKenna (1973) discovered, via empirical testing, that accounting students personally possess more positive and favorable images toward accountants than the stereotype of which the general public imagine accountants to be. Similarly, Taylor and Dixon (1979) and Inman et al. (1989) found that non accounting business students have a generally less positive image toward the accounting profession compared to students who study accounting majors. The first accounting course is normally regarded as one of the most important courses in the accounting discipline as it shapes students perceptions of the profession, the aptitudes and skills needed for a successful career in accounting.usually it is considered that communication skills are least important for accountants, Hermanson et al. (1995) for example, examined students

perceptions of skills needed in the accounting profession, The results revealed significant differences in the importance of communication skills and creativity between accounting and non-accounting students.To investigate this issue the following hypothesis was developed: H 1: There is no significant difference in perceived skills required for success in the accounting profession between accounting students and non-accounting students. In making career choices, students may be influenced by their accounting instructors, parents, relatives, friends, or high school teachers. A secondary school career counselor or adviser may also shape students perceptions of accounting and the profession (Marshall, 2003). However, empirical evidence shows mixed results. Some studies show that teachers or instructors did not play a significant role in their choice of majors (see Cangelosi et al., 1985; Gul et al., 1989). However, other studies (Paolillo and Estes, 1982; Hermanson and Hermanson, 1995; Geiger and Ogilby, 2000; Mauldin et al., 2000) suggest that individual instructors have a profound influence on studentsdecisions to major in accounting. . To focus on human influence, we developed the following hypothesis: H 2: There is no significant difference in human influence in career choice between accounting students and non-accounting students The intrinsic appeal of the job itself, such as job satisfaction, opportunity to be creative, autonomy, intellect, and a challenging and dynamic working environment may influence students academic major intentions and choice. A number of studies indicate that job satisfaction is important in accounting students discipline choice (Paolillo and Estes, 1982; Gul et al., 1989; Auyeung and Sands, 1997). However, Paolillo and Estes (1982) and Felton et al. (1994) found that job satisfaction is not as important as many other factors that they studied. Thus to it we hypothesize that H 3: There is no significant difference in perception of the intrinsic values between accounting students and non-accounting students. Several prior studies have examined students perception of Career Prospects in the accounting profession. This factor usually refers to advancement opportunities (Horowitz and Piley, 1990) and social status (Cohen & Hanno, 1993; Tan & Laswad, 2005). Although these studies primarily focused on a students major decision, it is certainly thought that this factor has a strong impact on students career choice especially toward the accounting profession H 4: There is no significant difference in perception of career prospects between accounting students and non-accounting students. A consistent finding of many studies is that accounting students discipline choice is heavily influenced by earnings potential and job market conditions or opportunities (Paolillo and Estes, 1982; Gul et al., 1989; Inman et al., 1989; Adams et al., 1994; Felton et al., 1994; Auyeung and Sands, 1997; Lowe and Simons, 1997; Mauldin et al., 2000).For example, Ahmed et al. (1997) found that New Zealand students who intend to pursue a CA career place significantly greater importance on financial factors. Lowe and Simons (1997) findings in the USA furt her indicate that future earnings is the most important influence for accounting, finance and management majors. Thus we hypothesize that

H 5: There is no significant difference in perception of job market factors between accounting students and non-accounting students. The psychology theory known as the TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior), certain behavior should be reflected in the opportunity cost. Therefore, persons intention to pursue a CPA career or not could be explained by the cost of becoming a CPA. Applying this theory to career choice analysis, Felton et al. (1995) explored differences in perception of several costs such as no time to relax in the first few years and too many hurdles to qualify between accounting students and non-accounting students. H 6: There is no significant difference in perception of opportunity costs of becoming a CPA between accounting students and non-accounting students.