Accounting Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities: Status and Trends, 1993 – 2004 by David W. Leslie* *Chancellor Professor of Education, The College.

Accounting Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities: Status and Trends, 1993 – 2004

by

David W. Leslie*

*Chancellor Professor of Education, The College of William and Mary, Fellow, TIAA-CREF Institute

Data source = 1993 and 2004 iterations of the National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty (conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics).

• Weights approx. 20,000 responses to known population parameters, covers many elements of faculty characteristics, work, attitudes. Response rates have been high – e.g., 80-85%.

• On-line data analysis system limits use of small cell sizes; cannot crosstabulate with too many variables in play (e.g., highest degree and gender and discipline and age could not be jointly specified in a field as small as accounting.)

• See appendix of full report for more detail on NSOPF.

Principal findings:• Number of accounting faculty declined 13% while number of accounting students

increased 12%.

• Most of this decline occurred in 4-year, non-doctoral universities (the regional, comprehensives).

• A steep decline also occurred in numbers of accounting faculty under the age of 41. (And among men; number of women stayed the same.)

• About 500 accounting faculty will retire annually in the foreseeable future.

• Accounting produces about 150 new Ph.D.’s a year, half of whom are foreign nationals.

• Scarcity of replacement faculty and market forces appear to be driving “salary inversion,” so that accounting faculty under the age of 45 are paid at higher average salaries that those over 45.

• Workload (work-week, student credit-hours taught, and research) all show steady increases among faculty at research and doctoral universities.

Table 1: NSOPF estimated number of full-time, tenure eligible faculty in accounting and all other business fields, 1993 – 2004. (Institutions offering baccalaureate degrees and higher.)

+20.20%20,35216,02716,933

All other business

fields.

-19.11%512145556331Accounting

% Change

200419991993

Table 2: NSOPF estimated number of full-time NON-tenure eligible faculty in accounting and all other business fields, 1993-2004 (Institutions offering baccalaureate degrees and above).

+68.0%614855733649

All other business

fields.

-7.7%107919761169

Accounting

% Change200419991993

Figure 1: NSOPF estimated number (in 1000's) of full-time tenured or on-track faculty in accounting and other business fields at institutions granting baccalaureate or higher

degrees, 1993, 1999, and 2004.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Accounting Other business

Nu

mb

er in

100

0's

1993

1999

2004

Table 3: Number of all accounting faculty at all types of institutions (including 2-year) by tenure status, and percent change from 1993 to 2004.

-13.3%17,61017,40020,321Total

-9.8%10,92211,10012,112Not Eligible

-19.9%1,9091,4002,384On-Track

-18.0%4,7794,9005,825Tenured

% Change

200419991993

Table 4: Estimated (total) undergraduate enrollment in accounting (AICPA) and net change, 1999-00 to 2003-04.

12.33%143,735 141,175133,435134,775127,960Estimated (total) under-graduate enrollment

% Change

2003-04 2002-032001-022000-011999-00Year

Table 5: Number of full-and part-time accounting faculty, by type of institution, 1993 - 2004. 1993FT 2004FT 1993PT 2004PT

Research/Doctoral 2853 3072 2163 851

4-Yr. Non-Doct. 4572 3169 2714 3555

2-Year 2274 2287 4601 3911

Total 9699 8528 9478 8317

Figure 2: Change in number of full-time accounting faculty by type of institution, 1993 - 2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Doctoral 4-year non-doctoral 2-year

Nu

mb

er o

f fu

ll-ti

me

facu

lty

Number FT '93

Number FT '04

Figure 3: Change in number of part-time accounting faculty by type of institution, 1993 - 2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Doctoral 4-year non-doctoral 2-year

Nu

mb

er o

f p

art-

tim

e fa

cult

y

Number PT '93

Number PT '04

Figure 4: Percentage of faculty who are full - and part-time, accounting vs. all other fields, 1993 - 2004.

40

42

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

Full-time 1993 Full-time 2004 Part-time 1993 Part-time 2004

Per

cen

tag

e o

f fa

cult

y

All other

Accounting

Figure 5: Percentage of females by teaching field, tenure-eligible only, '93 - '04

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Engin

eerin

g

Phys

ical

sci

ence

s

Philo

sophy

and re

ligio

n

Occ

upatio

n pro

gram

s

Polit

ical

sci

ence

s

Eco

nomic

s

1st

-pro

fesi

onal h

ealth

sci

ence

s

Com

puter s

cien

ces

Mat

hemat

ics

and s

tatis

tics

Agric

ulture

/hom

e ec

onomic

s

His

tory

Soci

ology

Bio

logic

al s

cien

ces

Accountin

g

Busi

ness

Law

Fin

e ar

ts

Oth

er s

ocial

sci

ence

s

Com

munic

atio

ns

All

other

pro

gram

s

Psy

cholo

gy

Oth

er h

ealth

sci

ence

s

Oth

er e

ducatio

n

Englis

h and li

tera

ture

Fore

ign la

nguages

Tea

cher

educa

tion

Nurs

ing

Percentage female, '93

Percentage female, '04

Table 6: Numbers (and % change) of male and female accounting faculty by tenure status, 1993 - 2004.

Male93

Male04

%Change Female93

Female04

%Change

Tenured or on-track

6068 4361 -0.28 Tenured or on track

2000 2253 0.13

Not eligible 7838 6600 -0.16 Not eligible

3815 3628 -0.05

Overall 13905

10961

-0.21 Overall 5815 5881 0.01

Figure 6: Male accounting faculty (all) by tenure status, 1993-2004.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

Male93 Male04

NS

OP

F e

stim

ated

nu

mb

er.

Tenured or on-track

Not eligible

Figure 7: Female accounting faculty (all) by tenure status, 1993 - 2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

Female93 Female04

NS

OP

F e

stim

ated

nu

mb

er

Tenured or on track

Not eligible

Figure 8: Change in ethnic composition of tenure-eligible faculty by teaching field, '93 - '04

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

Acc

ounting

Com

puter s

cien

ces

Busi

ness

Oth

er s

ocial

sci

ence

s

Oth

er e

ducatio

n

1st

-pro

fesi

onal h

ealth

sci

ence

s

His

tory

All

other

pro

gram

s

Fore

ign la

nguages

Bio

logic

al s

cien

ces

Polit

ical

sci

ence

s

Engin

eerin

g

Mat

hemat

ics

and s

tatis

tics

Soci

ology

Agric

ulture

/hom

e ec

onomic

s

Tea

cher

educa

tion

Englis

h and li

tera

ture

Occ

upatio

n pro

gram

s

Oth

er h

ealth

sci

ence

s L

aw

Philo

sophy

and re

ligio

n

Phys

ical

sci

ence

s

Eco

nomic

s

Psy

cholo

gy

Fin

e ar

ts

Com

munic

atio

ns

Nurs

ing

Per

cen

tag

e ch

ang

e

Change in %White

Change in %Black

Change in %Asian

Change in %Hisp.

Change in %Other

Figure 9: NSOPF estimated mean age of male accounting faculty (all) by tenure status, 1993-2004

35

40

45

50

55

60

Males93 Males04

  Tenured

  On tenure track, not tenured

  Not eligible

Figure 10: NSOPF estimated mean age of female accounting faculty (all) by tenure status, 1993 - 2004

35

37

39

41

43

45

47

49

51

53

Females93 Females04

  Tenured

  On track, not tenured

  Not eligible

Figure 11: NSOPF estimated number (1000's) of male accounting faculty under age 40 and over age 55, 1993 - 2004

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Males93 Males04

Under age 40

Over age 55

Linear (Under age 40)

Linear (Over age 55)

Figure 12: NSOPF estimated number (1000's) of female accounting faculty under age 40 and over age 55, 1993 - 2004.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Females93 Females04

Under age 40

Over age 55

Linear (Under age 40)

Linear (Over age 55)

Figure 13: Mean years to retirement, full-time accounting faculty by type of institution, 1993-2004

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

1993YrstoRetire 2004YrstoRetire

Me

an

yea

rs t

o r

etir

emen

t

Res/Doct

4-Year

2-Year

Figure 14: Average annual production of Ph.D.s in accounting, 1980 - 2005

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1980–84 1985–89 1990–94 1995–99 2000-04 2005

Ave

rag

e an

nu

al n

um

ber

of

Ph

.D.s

Table 7a: Income of all accounting faculty with Ph.D. or 1st professional degree, under/over age 45, 1993 (Inflated) – 2004[1]

Basic salary from

institution

Total income from the

institution

Total income of

respondent from all sources

N

Age in 1993

45 and under 44,744.25 48,584.44 71,418.58 2500

46 and over 65,751.48 73,323.75 99,172.30 4200

Age in 2004

45 and under 92,731.80 101,061.90 125,370.80 1500

46 and over 73,982.60 81,149.60 98,144.60 4400

Figure 15: Trend (1993-2004) in base salary for (full-time) accounting and "all" faculty.

55000

60000

65000

70000

75000

80000

1993 2004

Mea

n b

ase

sala

ry i

n $

AllFaculty

AcctgFaculty

Figure 16: Base pay and other income, full-time accounting faculty vs. other business and engineering, 2004.

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Base pay Total income

Accounting

Other business

Engineering

Figure 17: Mean base pay, full-time accounting faculty age 42 and over and age 41 and under, 1993 - 2004

0.00

10,000.00

20,000.00

30,000.00

40,000.00

50,000.00

60,000.00

70,000.00

80,000.00

90,000.00

1993 Inflated 2004

Age 41 and under

Age 42 and over

Linear (Age 41 and under)

Linear (Age 42 and over)

Base pay for accounting faculty under and over age 45 with Ph.D. or 1st professional degree, 1993 - 2008(projected).

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

1993 2004 2008 (est.)

Under 45

Over 45

Figure 18: Average total hours worked per week reported by full-time accounting faculty at 4-year institutions, '93 - '04

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

Hours worked '93 Hours worked 04

Figure 19: Student credit hours taught by full-time accounting and other business faculty at 4-year institutions, '93 - '04

260

265

270

275

280

285

290

295

300

305

Student Credit Hours 93 Student Credit Hours 04

Ave

rag

e S

CH

per

fac

ult

y m

emb

er

Figure 20: Percentage of time reported on research, full-time accounting at 4-year institutions, '93 - '04

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

Time on research 93 Time on research 04

Ave

rag

e p

erce

nta

ge

of

tim

e o

n r

esea

rch

.

Figure 21: Total recent (2-years) publications reported by full-time accounting at 4-year institutions, '93 - '04

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

Recent Publications 93 Recent Publications 04

Ave

rag

e p

ub

licat

ion

s (m

ost

rec

ent

2 ye

ars)

Figure 22: Total career publications, full-time accounting faculty at 4-year institutions, '93 - '04

15.6

15.7

15.8

15.9

16

16.1

16.2

Career Publications 93 Career Publications 04

Ave

rag

e to

tal c

aree

r p

ub

licat

ion

s

Figure 23: Proportion of full-time accounting faculty at 4-year institutions who have grants

0.1

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.2

0.22

0.24

0.26

Proportion with grants 93 Proportion with grants 04

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f fu

ll-ti

me

acco

un

tin

g f

acu

lty

Figure 24: Enrollment of (full-time) undergraduate and (all) graduate accounting students, by type of institution, 1990 - 2000.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

  Res./Doct.   4-Year.   Public 2-Year

Nu

mb

er in

100

0's

Total 1990

Total 2000

Figure 25: Trend in Student Credit Hour productivity by type of institution and full- vs. part-time accounting faculty, 1993 - 2004.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Res/Doct. 4-Yr.NonDoct 2-Yr.

Ind

ex o

f S

CH

pro

du

ctio

n p

er f

acu

lty

mem

ber

.

FTSCH93

FTSCH04

PTSCH93

PTSCH04

Figure 26: Satisfaction with job overall, workload, and pay, full-time accounting faculty, 1993 - 2004 (4 = Very Satisfied; 1 = Very Dissatisfied).

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

1993 2004

4.0

= V

ery

Sat

isfi

ed;

2.0

= S

om

ewh

at D

issa

tisf

ied

Job Overall

Workload

Satisfied with Pay

Conclusions (1)• The estimated number of accounting faculty (all institutions, all

ranks) declined 13.3% between 1993 and 2004, while estimated undergraduate enrollment grew over 12%. Business fields other than accounting have added substantial numbers of faculty during the same period.

• The aggregate number of students per faculty member in accounting has increased from 20.5:1 to over 28:1.

• The decline in numbers of faculty has been principally among males; the number of women accounting faculty has not increased in any significant way, although they are an increasing proportion of all accounting faculty (as the number of males has declined).

• The mean age of accounting faculty is increasing.

"Status" measures combined, '93 - '04

-7

-5

-3

-1

1

3

5

7

9

11

13

Occupat

ional

Accountin

g

Nursin

g

English/L

it

Teach

er E

d.Law

Fine

Arts

CompSci

ForLan

g.

Mat

h

AllOth

er

Other

Ed.

Other

Busines

s

Other

Health

Comm

unicat

ions

Psych

Histo

ry

Phil/Rel

ig

Other

SocSci

Sociolo

gy

PolSci

Econ.

Enginee

ring

1stP

rofH

ealth

PhysSci

BioSci

Ag/Hom

eEc

Co

mb

ined

z-s

core

s

SumZ93

SumZ04

Change In Status '93 - '04

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

Ag/Hom

eEc

Comm

unicat

ions

Teach

er E

d.

Other

Ed.

Other

Health

Phil/Rel

ig

Occupat

ional

Other

Busines

s

Sociolo

gy

Nursin

g

Econ.

Psych

Fine

ArtsM

ath

PolSci

CompSci

English/L

it

AllOth

er

Histo

ry

ForLan

g.

1stP

rofH

ealth

PhysSci

Accountin

g

BioSci

Other

SocSci

Enginee

ring

Law

Ch

ang

e in

co

mb

ined

Z-s

core

s

Conclusions (2)

• The number of individuals within ten years of “normal” retirement (age 55 and over) increased between 1999 and 2004, while the number of accounting faculty under the age of 40 declined during the same period.

• Ph.D. production has remained relatively steady at roughly 140 per year (with annual fluctuations) over the past 10 years.

• Demand for replacement faculty in accounting is estimated at roughly 500 per year for the next 5 – 10 years, while available supply of new Ph.D.s is estimated to be about 140 per year (half of whom are foreign nationals).

• On the whole, accounting faculty appear satisfied with their jobs, and their workload. They are probably less fully satisfied with their pay. (Note, though, that satisfaction levels remained essentially constant from 1993 to 2004, notwithstanding substantial increases in both pay and workload.)

• Workload and productivity have both increased substantially for faculty at research and doctoral institutions.