The awareness of the profession of audiology among entering college students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot test a survey of entering college students' awareness of the profession of audiology and to report the preliminary results of the survey.

Method: A survey was developed and administered in 2003 at the California University of Pennsylvania. A modified survey was administered in 2009. Survey questions asked students to identify what audiologists do and the education requirements to become an audiologist.

Results: Seventeen percent of the students self-reported that they knew what an audiologist did and were able to accurately describe the profession. Approximately 30% of the students learned about audiology from family/friends. Students reported selecting their major based on interest in a specific field and not on market-driven forces such as job opportunities and salary.

Conclusion: Future surveys should be conducted to confirm the extent of the lack of visibility of audiology as a profession and to serve as a metric for the efficacy of future marketing efforts in the profession.