New York (Oct. 7, 2003) – Although the profession has gained some ground since last year, accountants ranked near the bottom of a list of prestigious professions in a recent Harris Poll – lagging behind lawyers, journalists and Members of Congress.
Scientists, doctors and firefighters ranked highest in prestige, with more than half of respondents rating them as having “very great prestige,” while actors, stockbrokers and real estate agents pulled up the rear with less than 15 percent of survey takers granting them the highest rating.
Only 15 percent of Americans surveyed for the annual poll granted the accounting profession as an occupation of very great prestige. But the ranking rose 2 percentage points from an identical survey taken in 2002.
Harris Interactive has been asking about the prestige of different professions since 1977. Changes from last year's poll were relatively small, but over the 26 years teachers have improved their "very great prestige" rating to 49% from 29%, while lawyers saw a drop to 17% from 36%.
To view the entire poll results, click here:
-- WebCPA staff
