The lived reality of public accounting interns

Abstract

This study examines the lived reality of public accounting interns, including perceived benefits, costs, and competing frictions that are collectively relevant to the norms and social structures in this labor market. Our evidence suggests that benefits include knowledge acquisition for interns and readily available labor for firms. Costs include ethical dilemmas, pressures to conform, reality shocks, and shared suffering for interns, along with training investments and turnover for firms. Labor market frictions include variation in perceptions of success versus failure for interns, coupled with sustainability implications for the hiring model of firms. Reflecting on the mutuality of these labor market attributes, we present evidence on the consequences for both individuals and the profession. To do so, we collect survey evidence from 257 students who completed a ‘busy-season’ internship in the semester immediately prior to embarking on their Masters of Accountancy (MACC) program (January-April of 2014, 2015 and 2016). After reflecting on insights from that evidence, we then interviewed another 30 MACC students who had returned from their internships following the busy season of 2017 to gain in-depth qualitative evidence about the ‘lived reality’ of the internship experience, focusing on insights about anticipatory socialization, formative experiences and assimilation, along with differential expressions of both success and painful instances of failure. Our study provides details on a replicable internship model that has been sustainable for over 20 years at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and represents a detailed example relevant to understanding the apprenticeship model of public accounting.