Age characteristics of US and non-US accounting PhD faculty and factors affecting the impact of future faculty retirements

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the age distribution of current accounting PhD faculty internationally (for both US and non-US colleges and universities) and identify the types of schools that will be most negatively impacted from impending faculty retirements. Design/methodology/approach This research follows a descriptive analysis approach. Using data from publicly available sources, this study provides a descriptive analysis of the age distribution of individual faculty members with a PhD in accounting teaching at both US and non-US institutions. Using regression analysis, the authors also examine how this age distribution varies across universities and statistically measure the relationship between three measures of faculty age and nine selected school characteristics. Findings The results of this study indicate that almost half of all accounting faculty with a PhD in accounting are greater than or equal to age 55 years, and almost a full fourth are greater than or equal to age 65 years. The authors further find that schools that could be impacted most negatively by future retirements of accounting PhD faculty are non-Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited universities, nonpublic (private) universities, universities that offer undergraduate degrees only, non-urban universities and smaller universities. Originality/value This study extends current literature by providing updated demographic data related to the age characteristics of current accounting faculty, broken out separately by US and non-US faculty and identifying characteristics that impact how accounting faculty age demographics vary across institutions. In particular, the results are useful in identifying the types of academic programs and/or institutions that will be impacted most by future retirements of an aging accounting faculty.