Ranking of Accounting Doctoral Programs Based on Student Ratings in Ratemyprofessors.com and the Effect of Formal Teaching Training on the Rankings

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: Although there are calls for better teaching training for accounting doctoral students, there are limited research findings on rankings of accounting doctoral programs based on the teaching effectiveness of their graduates. Background: There are two research objectives of this study. First, we rank the US accounting doctoral programs based on the student perceptions of the teaching effectiveness of their graduates using student ratings in ratemyprofessors.com. Second, we examine whether the ranking is associated with the presence of formal teaching training in the doctoral programs. Methodology: Overall quality ratings posted in ratemyprofessors.com are collected for 822 accounting professors who graduated in 2001-10 from 75 US accounting doctoral programs. The curriculum information is collected from the web pages of their doctoral programs. Contribution: This study fills two voids in the literature. Unlike previous accounting doctoral studies that rank programs based on the amount of research output of the graduates, this paper ranks programs based on the perceived teaching effectiveness of the graduates. It also adds insights into the importance of offering formal teaching training to doctoral students, which is called for by the AACSB. Findings: We find that the teaching ranking in this study is only mildly related to previous research rankings that were based on the research output of doctoral graduates. We also find that doctoral programs with higher rankings in this study are more likely to have formal teaching training in their programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: Given the findings in this study and the literature, accounting doctoral program administrators should incorporate or strengthen a formal teaching training component in doctoral programs. Recommendation for Researchers: There is a need for researchers on doctoral program evaluations to broaden their scope of assessment to include both teaching scholarship and research output of the doctoral graduates. Impact on Society: The findings in this study show that there is limited formal teaching training for accounting doctoral students, which is consistent with results in the literature of other fields. This study echoes the calls for more training on how to teach to improve the teaching ability of the graduates. When doctoral graduates become more effective professors, the learning outcome among college students can be improved as a result. Future Research: Future research can explore other better and more direct measures of teaching effectiveness in the evaluation of the accounting doctoral graduates and the accounting doctoral programs. The effect and the methods of more innovative pedagogical training on doctoral students can also be examined.

Preparing Doctoral Students to Teach in an Increasingly Virtual World: A Response to COVID-19 and Beyond

“…Supporting the need for training doctoral students to teach, Chan et al (2019) found that doctoral instructors from programs requiring formal teaching training were more highly rated by undergraduates taking accounting courses. Madhavaram and Laverie wrote in 2010, "PC [pedagogical competence] can be traced back to doctoral programs" and called for marketing doctoral programs to "evolve from a strict research focus to a research and teaching focus," suggesting that doctoral students complete a year-long seminar course requiring participants to develop lectures, pedagogical approaches, learning goals and outcomes, and assessment techniques.…”

Transforming Postgraduate Education in Africa

“…Like many other educational programmes, Higher Education is a period of socialisation in preparation for a prospective career, including academia (Austin et al 2009). As an academic, one is expected to engage in teaching, research, and service (community or leadership) with administrative duties across all categories (Khan & Siriwardhane 2021;Chan et al 2019;Bexley 2013;Martin 1984). However, for decades, the focus of doctoral studies in many research institutions has been on research and disciplinary content expertise to the detriment of teaching (Bishop-Monroe et al 2021;Bonner et al 2020;Barney 2019;Marx et al 2016;Boman 2013).…”

Quem me Ensina a Ensinar? Atividades para o Exercício da Docência

“…As discussões relacionadas à temática da formação e da preparação docente têm sido ampliadas para cursos cuja formação inicial não trazem bases didático--pedagógicas e onde há pouca ou nenhuma formação docente de professores de nível superior, como é o caso dos bacharelados, os quais incluem os cursos de Administração e Ciências Contábeis (POSTAREFF; LINDBLOM-YLANNE; NEVGI, 2007;ABDULLAH et al, 2016;LOURENÇO;NARCISO, 2016;CHAN et al, 2019). Nestas áreas, a formação pedagógica apresenta-se deficitária, necessitando ser desenvolvida a partir de outras fontes de conhecimento que levem à formação e ao desenvolvimento da identidade do profissional docente (LOURENÇO; LIMA; NARCISO, 2016; VAN LANKVELD et al, 2017).…”

“…No entanto, parece que os cursos de mestrado e doutorado não têm se constituído como espaço formativo para o desenvolvimento dessas atividades de ensino e aprendizagem. Os achados de Andere e Araujo (2008), Miranda (2010), Lapini (2012), Slomski et al (2013, Patrus e Lima (2014), Abdullah et al (2016), Nganga et al (2016), Araujo (2017), Silva e Ramos (2017), Lima et al (2019) e Chan et al (2019) reforçam que os programas de pós-graduação em Contabilidade e Administração 110 têm apresentado maior preocupação com a formação de pesquisadores em detrimento da formação de docentes, ainda que esteja previsto como um dos objetivos pedagógicos dos cursos.…”

“…Este estudo se justifica pela necessidade de incrementar a profissionalização dos docentes em Contabilidade e Administração, considerando que ter conhecimento de conteúdo ou ser pesquisador não implica, necessariamente, estar preparado para o exercício da docência. Além disso, sabe-se que o papel da pós--graduação é também preparar os discentes para o processo de ensino-aprendizagem (CHAN et al, 2019;PATRUS;LIMA, 2014;LOURENÇO;NARCISO, 2016;NGANGA et al, 2016;CHAN et al, 2019).…”