Accounting Faculty Qualifications: Do They Meet the Expectations?

Abstract

A 2008 report of the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, argued that because of the disconnect between the academia and the profession, many new faculty have little or no practical accounting experience (Advisory Committee, 2008). This study used the Hasselback Directories to investigate the universities’ response to the above observation. The results showed that, contrary to the Committee’s recommendation, both the number and percentage of faculty with professional experience has decreased year after year. The evidence demonstrates that during the same period, the proportion of faculty with CPA certification has dropped significantly.