Helping CPAs Make a Career Change from Practice to Academia.

• In Event: Reception with Effective Learning Strategies Displays

Abstract

For many CPAs, it comes as a surprise to learn that qualified accounting faculty at colleges and universities are currently in high demand. This shortage was discussed in a groundbreaking report published in 2012 by the Pathways Commission on Accounting Higher Education, a joint initiative by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Accounting Association established to study the structure of accounting education and make recommendations to improve it. In part to address this shortage, the Pathways Commission report called for, among other things, the integration of professionals with significant business or practice experience more fully into significant aspects of accounting education, programs and research and for their acceptance as full and valued members of the accounting faculty at educational institutions.

In light of this shortage of accounting faculty and the profession’s call for the integration of practitioners into the educational process, one might logically conclude that a CPA inclined to transition from client service to the classroom would find an easy journey. Unfortunately, like any fundamental change in one’s career path, this is not always the case because of some simple misunderstandings that often exist between the worlds of practice and academia, three of which are discussed in this proposed article.

It is suggested by the author that each can be overcome with some simple planning, discussion and willingness to acknowledge their existence. It is further suggested that the acknowledgement of these issues by practitioners looking to make a transition into of academia on a full-time basis and by colleges and universities looking to hire accounting faculty can help in the fulfillment of the goal of the Pathways Commission to integrate practitioner into academia.

Author

• James Bruno Biagi, Stevens Institute of Technology