Plan

1
Plan

• Learning about each other
• Introductions
• Business PhD programs at UT-Austin and ANU.
• Entry-level academic workload.
• Starting an academic career
• Publishing your research
• Building successful coauthorships
• Serving the research community
• Teaching and research

2
Introductions

• Name
• Area and stage in program
• What you did before starting the program, and why
  you took the plunge
• Dissertation topic or most recent research
  interest

3
Business PhD Programs at UT-Austin and ANU

• Purpose of the following comparisons is only to
  learn, not to suggest any right or wrong.

4
Business PhD Programs at UT-Austin and ANU

• Basic demographics

5
Business PhD Programs at UT-Austin and ANU

• Areas of study
• Different departmental classifications make
  comparisons by area more difficult.
• That said, a cursory review suggests that
  relative to a typical U.S. program, ANU has a
  relatively large number of accounting PhD
  students (30/84, or 36) and a relatively small
  number of finance PhD students (9/84, or 11).

6
National demographics and market conditions

• Approximately 75 of U.S. PhD applications are
  from applicants of non-U.S. origin, mostly from
  China and Korea.
• Program typically takes five years, with the
  expectation of a dissertation and at least one
  other significant research project upon
  graduation.
• Market is very good in accounting and finance due
  to a PhD shortage, with excellent starting
  salaries for the best students.
• Universities never hire their own graduates (at
  least not right away).

7
UT-Austin research seminar structure for
accounting PhD students

• First year Accounting research methods
  (overview) of the scientific method as applied to
  accounting questions.
• Second or third years
• Two empirical / archival seminars
• One behavioral / experimental seminar
• One analytic modeling seminar
• Typical seminar discussion
• Three recent research papers assigned to and
  presented by students
• Focus is on learning the state of the art and
  identifying the most likely areas for future
  contributions

8
Teaching in the PhD program

• Varies considerably by university.
• For accounting PhD students at Texas, must teach
  at least one semester, with additional semesters
  available for those who need improvement.
• Students are assigned as teaching assistants or
  research assistants in all other semesters.

9
Entry-Level Academic Workload at UT-Austin

• Semester system Fall and spring
• Teach three sections of the same course (approx.
  40-50 students per section) in one of two
  semesters nothing in the other semester.
• In year six, go up for tenure. Odds of success
  are well below 50 (and decreasing over time).

10
Plan

• Learning about each other
• Introductions
• Business PhD programs at UT-Austin and ANU.
• Entry-level academic workload
• Starting an academic career
• Publishing your research
• Building successful coauthorships
• Serving the research community
• Teaching and research

11
1. Publishing your research
Starting an academic career

• Elements of a successful research paper
• Selling your research
• Soliciting and addressing feedback
• Aiming high while remaining flexible
• Revising and resubmitting

12
1. Publishing your research

• Elements of a successful research paper
• Motivation
• Theory
• Analysis
• Which of these do you think is the most common
  reason for rejection?

13
1. Publishing your research, cont.

• SELLING YOUR RESEARCH
• Most research papers are accepted or rejected by
  p. 3.
• Therefore, by p. 3, you must state as succinctly
  as possible
• What exactly is the research question?
• Why is that question important?
• What did you do to answer it?
• What did you find?

14
1. Publishing your research, cont.

• Soliciting and addressing feedback
• Feedback improves your odds of success (Brown
  2005)
• Deadlines help you
• If others are confused, who is at fault?
• Errors of substance and errors of communication

15
1. Publishing your research, cont.

• Aiming high while remaining flexible
• Aspire to the top tier
• But do not lose heart if not all your projects
  are of that quality

16
1. Publishing your research, cont.

• Revising and resubmitting
• This is the most sensitive part of the process.
• Editors will not sound encouraging, but if you
  have a chance, take it.
• The referee is your consultant, not your
  adversary.
• Respond in the revised paper, not the response
  memorandum.

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2. Coauthorships

• Coauthors will be critical to your success, but
  PhD programs provide very little training in
  successful coauthoring.
• Choosing coauthors Clones or complements?
• Strategy Coordinate or trade?
• Coauthoring with your faculty supervisor(s)?
  Yes, but in moderation and not exclusively.

18
3. Serving the community

• Reviewing
• You are evaluating a manuscript, not showing how
  much you know.
• Presenting a paper in a doctoral seminar is not
  the same as reviewing it for a journal.
• Attending conferences and workshops
• Become visible, but not overbearing.

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4. Research and Teaching (Demski and Zimmerman
2000)

• Effect of research on teaching
• The evidence (Bell, Frecka, and Solomon 1991)
• Bringing research insights into the classroom
  (audit risk example)
• Research as mental exercise for simplifying and
  structuring complex questions
• Effect of teaching on research
• Challenge your students to ask what difference it
  makes.
• These discussions can generate great ideas!
• The impact of research on practice
• I spoke with 141 members of the accounting
  practice community this spring.