Message from the Coordinator
Isenberg's accounting department is renowned as one of the top doctoral programs in the nation for judgment and decision making research in auditing and financial accounting. Our students have the opportunity to work with faculty who perform world-class research using experimental and archival research methods.
Students graduate as captivating and practiced scholars who are already well on their way to making meaningful contributions in their field. On every level, we give our candidates the support they need. In particular, we offer:
- Outstanding faculty who rank #2 in the nation for auditor judgment and decision making research, #5 in the nation for financial accounting judgment and decision making research, #5 for all accounting judgment and decision making research overall, and tied for 8th for auditing research overall (source: 2020 BYU faculty rankings, top 6 accounting journals, past decade).
- Ideal preparation for careers at leading universities. Our recent graduates have received offers to join the faculty of major research strongholds, including Cornell University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech University, the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia, the University of Utah, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- A small program that allows students to interact closely with faculty to co-author research projects. Our students have excellent success publishing dissertations and other research in top accounting journals.
- A personal and collaborative culture, where PhD students and faculty are colleagues. In all, Isenberg is the place to ask and answer pressing questions, to help make advances in the field of accounting, and to build and launch a career.
John F. Kennedy Endowed Professor
Isenberg’s PhD in Accounting is an intensely focused and highly supportive full-time, residential program that prepares students for careers in academia. Students will broaden their understanding of accounting research and conduct independent research based on their interests. Students work one-on-one with faculty in small classroom settings and gain real-world teaching skills by planning and leading graduate-level classes.
Faculty members are working on a wide variety of research projects, investigating such topics as:
Audit quality and office growth
Readability’s influence on investors’ judgments
Social mismatches between auditors and clients
Effects of guidance frequency on management
Consequences of lowering disclosure thresholds
The program is generally completed within 4-5 years. Students take 48 credits of coursework, which includes research methodology, statistics, major and minor area courses at the graduate level, and electives. They complete a qualifying and comprehensive exam, a research project, and teach at Isenberg for at least three semesters. Students will finally research, write and defend a dissertation.
Sample of our required accounting courses:
- Archival Research in Accounting
- Behavioral Research in Accounting
- Experimental Research Methods
- Statistics and Econometrics
- Multivariate Statistics
- Structural Equations Modeling
YEAR 1: Coursework, including foundation courses; Qualifying exam
YEAR 2: Coursework, including major and minor area courses; Directed research project
YEAR 3: Comprehensive exam; Directed research project; Dissertation proposal
YEAR 4: Dissertation