The University of Toledo’s John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation, in collaboration with the Ohio CPA Foundation, recently co-hosted the Careers in Professional Accounting Camp, or CPA Camp.
The daylong camp provided a comprehensive career development program tailored to underrepresented high school students, including those who identify as having a disability, LGBTQ+ individuals, students of color and first-generation college attendees.
The group of more than 170 students primarily consisted of individuals from Toledo’s Upward Bound and Toledo Excel programs.
“Recognizing the limited exposure to this discipline among many of our attending students, our objective lies in improving the deficit of aspiring accountants,” said Rebecca Hixen, director of Student and Young Professional Initiatives for the Ohio Society of CPAs.
“It is crucial that we reach students at the high school level, specifically underrepresented students, because the percentages of these individuals in the accounting field have not changed much over many years. We’re hoping to move the needle in terms of having more students in general, but also underrepresented students interested in pursuing accounting as a career.”
Throughout the camp, participants had the opportunity to learn about the different career prospects in the accounting field, including job options and associated salaries.
UToledo accounting associate professor, Dr. Karen Green, also facilitated a hands-on activity with the aspiring students utilizing paper airplanes to bring accounting principles to life and illustrate the interconnectedness of each business discipline and their relationship with accounting.
Additional event sponsors included Huntington, La-Z-Boy, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, Clark Schaefer Hackett, the Accountancy Board of Ohio, Rehmann, GBQ, Ingram-White Castle Foundation, KPMG and RSM.
