Shortage of CPAs in education in Davao City, Philippines: Why certified public accountants hesitate to become educators?

While the shortage of accounting educators is a global concern, it presents a unique challenge for undergraduate accounting programs in Davao City, Philippines, where regulatory requirements for CPA-licensed faculty intersect with a declining interest in academic careers. This study aims to identify the dimensions associated with Certified Public Accountants' (CPAs’) hesitation to pursue academic careers. Data were gathered from 376 CPAs not working in education through a structured questionnaire. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation identified three principal components: Psychological Barriers, Professional Growth, and Salary and Monetary Benefits. Cluster analysis revealed distinct CPA profiles characterized by different patterns of perceived barriers. Psychological Barriers accounted for the largest proportion of variance in the retained component solution, while Professional Growth and Salary and Monetary Benefits also emerged as important dimensions of perceived barriers. These findings provide evidence-based insights that may assist higher education institutions and policymakers in developing targeted strategies to encourage qualified accounting professionals to consider academic careers.