An International Comparison of the Academic Accounting Professoriate

Abstract

We examine the academic accounting professoriate in the US, Canada, and other countries. As of 2016, US accounting programs averaged 7.9 faculty per program, versus 11.9 faculty for Canadian schools and 10.3 faculty for schools outside of the US and Canada. 78.2% of US faculty are tenure-track (or tenured), versus 84.0% of faculty in Canadian schools and 92.6% of faculty outside of the US and Canada. As of 2016, only 73.7% of individuals who obtain their degrees in Canada stay in Canada as university faculty vs. 90.9% of individuals obtaining US degrees staying in the US and 88.0% for faculty outside of either country. We examine how these proportions have shifted over time, from 1980 to 2016, and we break out our data into tenure-track vs. non-tenure track faculty. Finally, we examine the time needed to move from assistant rank to associate rank (i.e., the time to obtain tenure) and the time needed to move from associate to full professor, broken out by country of education and country of employment.