Is it (Still) Good to be an Accountant? Financial and Career Outcomes of One University’s Accountancy Graduates Over Fifty Years

• In Event: TlC

Abstract

This paper addresses the desirability of an accounting degree by looking at data obtained from a survey of one university’s accountancy graduates over the period 1964 to 2014. Considering the vast changes in educational, regulatory and economic circumstances over the past 50 years, as well as differences in career paths among accountancy graduates, this study explores the financial outcomes of an accounting education both in the times-series and cross-section. We find an increase in the cost of an accounting career as only 25% of the respondents had not earned a graduate degree by the 2000-2009 period. Our results suggest a Big N premium in both starting and future (current) salaries. In addition, we find higher career turnover results in lower future (current) salaries and starting in a non-traditional specialty (non-audit/tax) earns a higher entry-level salary. We also report a large gender gap in future salaries but find this result appears to be driven by a female/children interaction.

Authors

• Thomas J. Frecka, University of Notre Dame

• Fred Mittelstaedt, University of Notre Dame

• Jennifer Lynn Sustersic Stevens, Ohio University