Factors impacting on accounting academics’ motivation and capacity to adapt in challenging times

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider what factors influence the ability of academic staff to remain motivated and to persist in their work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tinto’s (2017) model of student motivation and persistence is reconceptualised to apply to the academic staff by considering their self-efficacy beliefs, sense of belonging and perceptions of career relevance on their motivation levels and adaption to a new environment. Design/methodology/approach Utilising Tinto’s (2017) reconceptualised model for academics, this study provides insights into motivation and capacity to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents observations and reflections from five academics from three universities across two countries in relation to self-efficacy, sense of belonging and perception of career relevance. Findings The findings of this study state that self-efficacy beliefs, a sense of belonging and perceptions of career relevance combine to drive both academics’ motivation levels and their ability to adapt to the changing landscape. Self-efficacy was influenced by factors such as struggles with adaptation to new online technologies and researching and teaching in a virtual environment. Academics’ sense of belonging was found to be challenged in unprecedented ways because of physical isolation and sometimes unfavourable home working environments. Perceptions of career relevance were found to be challenged by adverse developments such as reduced promotional opportunities, cuts in resourcing and job insecurity. Originality/value This paper makes three important contributions. First, Tinto’s (2017) model of student motivation and persistence is extended to examine academic motivation, adaption and persistence. Second, the model is applied to a crisis where staff face greater strain in maintaining connection to their colleagues and their university. Third, the influence of the COVID-19 crisis is examined by using the reconceptualised Tinto (2017) model in the context of accounting, as accounting international student enrolments and associated revenue streams have been impacted significantly more than those of many other disciplines.

Accounting education in a Latin American country during COVID-19: proximity at a distance

“…466-469). The second is a methodological contribution by using a qualitative survey of national scope (de Villiers et al, 2019(de Villiers et al, , p. 1470; most of the previous works were autoethnographic (Ackermann, 2021;Alam, 2020;Beatson et al, 2021;G omez and Alba, 2021;Haynes, 2020;Othman, 2021;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Wong and Zhang, 2020). Finally, the complete model of Paulo Freire used before in accounting education is taken up Bebbington, 2004, 2005), beyond some ideas recently taken from Pedagogy of Freedom and Pedagogy of Hope to analyse the effects of the pandemic (Powell and McGuigan, 2020).…”

“…The emerging literature on accounting education in the COVID-19 context has focussed on faculty autoethnography and undergraduate students studies. The group of articles on faculty describes recent teaching experiences (Ackerman, 2021;Beatson et al, 2021;G omez and Alba, 2021;Haynes, 2020;Mai, 2020;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Stewart and Khan, 2021;Wong and Zhang, 2020) whilst the other group highlights student responses and challenges (Ali et al, 2020;Bowyer, 2021;Dyki et al, 2021;Malan, 2020;Pasion et al, 2021;Reyneke et al, 2020). There is also a paper on graduate students (Ramachandra and Wells, 2021) and another one on the training of instructors for online education (Sadiq, 2020).…”

“…Initially, the literature of accounting education in the COVID-19 context was geographically concentrated in Australia (Beatson et al, 2021;Dyki et al, 2021;Mai, 2020;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Sadiq, 2020;Stewart and Khan, 2021;Wong and Zhang, 2020) and New Zealand (Ackermann, 2021;Ali et al, 2020;Beatson et al, 2021;Othman, 2021;Ramachandra and Wells, 2021). Authors wrote some works with institutional affiliation in Indonesia (Aji et al, 2020), Portugal (Pasion et al, 2021), South Africa (Malan, 2020;Reyneke et al, 2020), UAE (Masoud and Bohra, 2020), UK (Haynes, 2020) and USA (Bowyer, 2021;Fogarty, 2020).…”

From unrequited love to sleeping with the enemy: COVID-19 and the future relationship between UK universities and professional accounting bodies

“…This does not have to be at the expense of flexibility, but it does mean that we have to think differently about the sharing of responsibilities between academics, accountants and students. COVID-19 has also had very different impacts on the two professions of accounting and academia (Beatson et al , 2021). Universities, including their academics, appear to be most vulnerable to the pandemic, making economic and social sacrifices to protect learners.…”

“…This combination of academic freedom and emphasis on professional judgement enables academics to demand that learners work hard and actively engage with stimulating and at times, uncomfortable ideas and move forward (Ackermann, 2021). Beatson et al (2021) have found that academics build resilience through facing major challenges and obstacles. This provides a renewed vision into how academic traditions, such as collegiality, commitment to teaching and research excellence, may help academics to adapt to new challenges, perhaps better than their counterparts in a traditional corporate environment.…”