Notes to those considering an Accounting Ph.D. from MAAW's Blog
by James R. Martin
Advice for Ph.D. Students and New Faculty | How to Management Yourself Main Page
Every accounting student in Beta Alpha Psi should consider seeking a Ph.D. in Accounting. Currently starting salaries for those with a new accounting Ph.D. are between $150,000 - $200,000 for nine months, probably more at the top schools. In addition, many schools offer summer research money for the first couple of years for new faculty. Ph.D. programs are not easy and you might not like the research emphasis, but an academic career offers many intrinsic rewards that you will not find in public or corporate accounting. The following links are to two articles related to this issue. The last link is to a list of Ph.D. programs with some contact information. A Google search on accounting Ph.D. programs will generate a lot of other links and a lot of specific school promotions. Since there is such a shortage of accounting Ph.D.s there is lots of money around for those who quality. Talk to your faculty about it and give it some serious thought.
CPA Journal article - Pursuing
a Ph.D. in Accounting: What to Expect. http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2007/307/essentials/p66.htm
Journal of Accountancy article - Pursuing a Ph.D. in Accounting: Walking in with
Your Eyes Open. http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/PursuingaPhDinAccounting
Directory of Accounting PhD Programs - http://aaahq.org/ATA/public-interest/PhD-programs/phdschools.cfm?sort=name
The Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications online from June 1 to October 1, 2010 for funding for individuals beginning their doctoral studies in the fall of 2011. Seventy of the largest accounting firms and 45 State CPA Societies have committed $17 million to help reverse a shortage of Ph.D. accounting faculty in auditing and tax at U.S. colleges and universities. The CPA profession has created the ADS Program to help reverse a shortage of PhD accounting faculty in U.S. colleges and universities. The development of the program is spearheaded by the largest accounting firms and is administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Foundation. As of March 1, 2010, 70 accounting firms, 45 state CPA societies, and two other sponsors have committed approximately $17 million for the ADS Program. The firms recruit employees for the program and encourage them to become accounting professors in audit and tax disciplines. The ADS Program was launched in July 2008. The program provides funding for four years for up to 30 new candidates each year for four years for a total of 120 newly educated PhDs in audit and tax. In the first two years of the program, 30 candidates, with an average GMAT of 718, were selected for funding for enrollment in the fall of 2009 and 2010. Twenty seven ADS Program Scholars were placed for enrollment for the fall of 2009 and 29 for fall 2010 at participating universities. Applications for the third year of the program for enrollment in the fall of 2011 are being accepted online from June 1 through October 1, 2010. Applicants must have a minimum of three years of experience in audit or tax in public accounting with a portion of the experience being in the last three years. Potential candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents committed to a career as an accounting faculty member at a U.S. university accredited in business by AACSB International. From the applicant pool, candidates will be selected to be invited to a day-long Orientation Conference to learn more about the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, receive guidance on preparing for and applying to a university PhD program, and gain insight into the life and career of an accounting faculty member. They will also have the opportunity to visit with accounting doctoral program representatives of the participating universities at a programs fair. Once enrolled in a doctoral program at a participating university, each Accounting Doctoral Scholar will receive an annual stipend of $30,000 for a maximum of four years.
For further information about the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, contact
ADSprogram@aicpa.org or call 919-402-4524. The dedicated website is http://adsphd.org.
The program address is: Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, American Institute
of CPAs Foundation, 220 Leigh Farm Road, Durham, North Carolina 27707.
The next Accounting Doctoral
Scholars application, for enrollment in Fall 2012, will be available online July
1, 2011. The ADS program is specifically for those interested in auditing and
tax and requires public accounting experience. To prepare, see the requirements
and check back for updates in May 2011.
Requirements: To be eligible to be considered as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar,
candidates must meet the following criteria:
Have recent and meaningful work experience of at least three years in public
accounting in auditing or tax;
Provide a written statement of a commitment to a career transition to teaching
and research in auditing or tax at an AACSB International business accredited
university in the United States upon completion of a doctoral program in
accounting with an emphasis in auditing or tax;
Fulfill application requirements, e.g., have an academic record demonstrating
potential for success in advanced graduate work; have a Graduate Management
Admissions Test (GMAT) score no more than five years old that is competitive for
admission to major doctoral programs in accounting, e.g., 650 or higher; and
supply appropriate letters of recommendation;
Be a U. S. citizen or permanent resident; and
Commit, if selected as an ADS Program Scholar, to applying for admission to one
or more doctoral programs in accounting at an ADS Program participating
university to pursue auditing or tax as a teaching and research focus.
For more information on the ADS program see http://adsphd.org/
MAAW's Blog Note 4/8/2011:
To compete for a tenured faculty line at a major
research university you have to do research. You have to like to teach and you
have to like to write and you have to be pretty good at both of them. My
recommendation is to start by reading some papers like the following to learn
more about what an academic career is like.
Beyer, B., D. Herrmann, G. K. Meek and E. T. Rapley. 2010. What it means to be
an accounting professor: A concise career guide for doctoral students in
accounting. Issues In Accounting Education (May): 227-244.
Hermanson, D. R. 2008. What I have learned so far: Observations on managing an
academic accounting career. Issues In Accounting Education (February): 53-66.
If an academic career sounds interesting, visit some Ph.D. programs and talk to
the faculty and the Ph.D. students. Ask a lot of questions, e.g., Will you have
to teach during the program? What sort of financial support do they have
available? What is expected of Ph.D. students? In Ph.D. seminars there is little
or no lecture and lots of student participation is required.
Then I recommend getting a masters degree (although you don't need one to get
into a Ph.D. program) followed by a full or part time teaching position at some
school (a community college for example) to see if you like to teach. If you
like to teach an academic career might be just what your are looking for. If you
don't want to do research there are lots of four year colleges where the
teaching load is 12 hours per semester and the research requirement is low to
zero. Those schools don't pay as well as the major research universities, but
there are more teaching positions available at that level.
I developed a summary of the Beyer, Meek and Rapley paper mentioned above. There is a very interesting table in the paper that indicates the teaching and research expectations of faculty at different types of schools. See http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBeyer2010.htm
MAAW's Blog Note 4/10/2011: Some additional thoughts on seeking an Accounting Ph.D.
Some of my previous comments about teaching opportunities and tenure might have been somewhat misleading. Many of the top accounting programs do have a publish or perish revolving door, but most accounting faculty do not publish in the top "A" level journals, or even the "B" level journals. As noted in the Beyer, Herrmann, Meek and Rapley article, there are only about 90 schools in the top 3 tiers. However, Hasselback list accounting faculty from over 1,000 four year schools, and there are hundreds of two year community and junior colleges where accounting is taught. My point is that there are ample teaching opportunities for anyone with at least a masters degree in accounting, but more lucrative opportunities for those with a Ph.D. and the research skills needed to publish in the "A" and "B" level journals. I might also add that those publications provide a considerable amount of intrinsic reward to the authors. Money provides a current but fleeting benefit. On the other hand, accomplishments at that level provide intrinsic benefits for as long as you live, and beyond.
For more on the publish or perish tenure issue see Bob Jensen's "Gaming for Tenure as an Accounting Professor".
Also see Bob's section on "Why Accountancy Doctoral Programs are drying up and why accountancy is no longer required for admission or graduation in an accountancy doctoral program".
