This study examines business students’ perceptions of the importance of faculty attributes classified by teaching, experience, research, service, and degree affiliation. Evidence from the United States and Tunisia, although differing in culture and attribute rankings, reveals that the faculty attributes students found most important in business faculty were teaching and experience. We also report gender differences across both countries where female students highly valued faculty teaching attributes while male students highly valued the faculty experience attribute. Despite differences between the two countries’ educational systems, students from both countries similarly perceived faculty publications as least important in their pursuit of a quality business education. This finding suggests a disconnect between faculty research and teaching – a disconnect commonly referred to as the ‘research-teaching gap.’ Our findings have policy implications for institutions of higher education in at least three areas: the accreditation process, curriculum design, and faculty evaluation and promotion.
Crypto assets have upset the pillars of regulatory and centralized monetary policy, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been slow in developing a position on how to account for cryptocurrencies. Currently, there are many accounting, finance, and tax meanings of cryptocurrencies. The purpose of this study is to show the path FASB has taken to develop accounting standards for more than 20,000 crypto assets, outline the positions other authorities and agencies have taken, and discuss Central Bank Digital Currencies since the United States and other countries are considering replacing their fiat currency with a digital currency. Furthermore, the study presents insights from an exploratory survey of accounting faculty opinions on cryptocurrencies. The discussion of virtual currency regulatory and accounting treatments informs the development of a regulatory framework.
In this essay, we propose that the prevalence of cheating by accounting students and serial cheating by accounting practitioners at Big-4 accounting firms are related. Our model of this problem suggests that students who cheat in school become practitioners who cheat in practice, and practitioners, in turn, model dishonest behavior for students. We propose that this vicious cycle of dishonesty poses a threat to the public’s trust in the accounting profession, and this crisis calls for drastic measures, both in academia and in practice, akin to measures like the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. As an honorable profession, dishonesty cannot be tolerated. Brief overviews of the prevalence of cheating, both by students and by Big-4 accounting practitioners are presented. Suggestions are included for a three-prong approach by accounting stakeholders to reduce this egregious ethical problem—a problem that, we suggest, is causing a new crisis in confidence for the accounting profession.