Is the Demand for An Accounting PhD really all that its cracked up to be?

[4getmenot]

Just wanted to add to the 4 years vs. 5 years discussion.

I heard a number of candidates choose to do the fifth year voluntarily even though they were eligible for graduation at the end of 4 years. Apparently the extra year allowed them more time with the faculty and improve their job market package. Of course, it's always a good sign that a school promises to get you through the degree in 4 years.

[yangyang2000]

Re: low end schools and online programs, I'd argue that low end schools will have to add tenure track faculty to differentiate themselves in the future when online schools become more prominent.

[nadasurf]

As an ADS alumni, I just want to offer a different perspective:

- Yes, the stated goal of increasing enrollment of accounting doctoral students most likely failed, but just like if you give a company a govt bailout, they can use it as they please and so the ADS program could never force schools to take in more students at the end of the day.

- Call me cynical but it would seem the AICPA accomplished their goals. They never had a stake in purely adding more students (much like if the IMA starts a program to fund more mngt accountants, they wouldn't care if their candidates replace tax/audit candidates) but in serving their constituents. That would mean changing the makeup of the doctoral student pool to include more candidates who have practical experience and can train future CPA's in practice as well as influence the research environment. It would seem they have done this successfully. Whether or not that is good for the research community remains to be decided but I would think we can agree it is good for the constituency of the AICPA and in that function, they have been successful.

[shootermcgavin7]

As you are discussing, OP, potential applicants don't care about the demand now, they should care about the demand five-six years from now. This is virtually impossible to predict. They were saying the same things about Finance PhDs five years ago and the job market now is lukewarm at best. However, if someone enjoys research, go for it. Trying to predict and then worrying about the job market in the future is a fool's game.

[rsaylors]

The thing about business schools is that they pay too much. People with a financial interest (see finance) will go after the biggest money; People interested in prestige will go after what sounds the best (see economics). At one point IS was booming, now its crashing hard. The extra pay finance and accounting demand will attract people interested in money, economics will continue to attract people interested in prestige and sociology and psychology will continue to attract people interested in pure research/theory.

That said: between 2014 and 2025 a significant number of baby boomers will hit retirement age; many of whom hold tenure potions that will need to be filled. The MBA remains the graduate degree for people that couldn't quite be doctors or lawyers, so general demand should stay strong. The 7 year boom/bust cycle should hit around 2015, so 2012-2017 should be optimal years to start a 5ish year program.

Barring a communist revolution in which all of us are murdered for being enemies of the proletariat. Or a libertarian revolution in which all of us are fired for being leaches on society, pushing our communist garbage(diversity) and benefiting from government hand outs (student loans).

[rthunder27]

he extra pay finance and accounting demand will attract people interested in money, economics will continue to attract people interested in prestige and sociology and psychology will continue to attract people interested in pure research/theory.

Or, you know, people will simply move towards the field that best aligns with their research interests. And if one were interested in just the money, then they are foolish for going for a PhD at all, they'd be better served getting an MBA or a degree in Financial Engineering and then work for a bank. Sure, at the margin some people that are roughly equally split between economics/finance the money and demand could play a deciding role, but for most applicants money is a secondary or tertiary concern.

[Behavioral]

Or, you know, people will simply move towards the field that best aligns with their research interests. And if one were interested in just the money, then they are foolish for going for a PhD at all, they'd be better served getting an MBA or a degree in Financial Engineering and then work for a bank. Sure, at the margin some people that are roughly equally split between economics/finance the money and demand could play a deciding role, but for most applicants money is a secondary or tertiary concern.

Yup. Considering that a large amount of the Econ PhD board apply to both Finance and Econ programs, I think most people just apply to what they match.

[ReadtheBlogs]

I recently came across the 'Bridge program' offered by the AACSB.

AACSB International


What are the advantages/disadvantages of going this route for a potential accounting/finance professor?

Hypothetically, couldn't anyone with a PhD in say, economics (which are typically much easier phd programs to get accepted to, at least at lower level schools) just complete this 5-week bridge program and become an Accounting or Finance professor?

If that is in fact the case, this seems ridiculous for a number of reasons:

- How could this 5-week training session ever prepare someone to do research in the business field, assuming they likely had no prior background in the field of study they are moving into?

- How do universities view the program when making hiring decisions for tenure track accounting and finance professors?

- Do these professors get paid the same as other business professors?

- What impact will it have on graduates from legitimate Accounting and Finance PhD programs?

Please share whatever knowledge you have on the this program...

[phdhope]

The fact is few people have graduated or ever will graduate since there are so few schools (5) participating. The salary expectations theoretically will be the same. The biggest and, dare i say it, fatal flaw with this program is it assumes that 5 weeks=4 years in a PhD program. Almost no one coming from a non-business phd program will have published articles in business journals. Most graduates of business phd programs have at least made some progress on their research by the end of their phd program. To assume that a similar level of research output could be achieved by a person from another discipline is ludicrous. (This isn't to say that non-business phds aren't researching. What I am trying to say is I can hardly imagine a history PhD with more accounting research papers completed than a graduate from an accounting phd program. After all, history phds should be publishing...history papers.) Likewise, I think it is ridiculous to assume a history phd will be able to teach taxation to students having never taken an accounting course, without any real business experience, lacking any professional certification, and with a 5-week knowledge of what their discipline's research might include.

I really don't worry to much about the program since we would have to assume it is adding quite a few extra doctoral students at these schools than they would normally accept for it to have any effect at all. Also, since these schools aren't exactly the top schools in most fields (with some exceptions which someone else will probably list in a latter post....), I am even less concerned.

I think the program has good intentions. I mean, it is trying to get more people into business phds. However, if I became dean and was looking to hire an accounting professor, I would probably choose someone who has shown an ability to produce accounting research or has an accounting background (and preferably both).

[taxPhD]

In general the bridge program students aren't extremely competitive on the job market. It seems like the primary role is to fill a void in teaching demand, as most of the participants have placed at teaching schools.

Florida is probably the best of the bridge programs in terms of the quality of their business PhD programs and even their bridge program placements aren't impressive. So it seems like pretty much anyone with a business PhD would be more competitive on the market then a bridge program student except for maybe the occasional econ PhD switch who may of already been researching in say public economics or IO.

Here are their 2010 placements out of Florida, though I do not know what discipline that students are in.
Azusa Pacific University
Northeastern State University x 2
Cameron University
Virginia State University
Shippensburg State University
High Point University
University of North Florida
Siena College
Michigan State University
Bryant University
University of Central Florida
University of Puerto Rico x 2
Washington State University
St. Mary's College of California
Price Sultan University
Embry-Riddle
Euromed Management in Marseille
2 still seeking jobs