By Bianca Bowen
I think that the most rewarding part of the CPMRE Mentorship Program for me was being able to understand what our professors actually do. As a student we interact with professors in the classroom (this year a virtual classroom) and maybe in our upper years we are able to assist our professors as Teaching or Research Assistants. But through this mentorship I was able to better understand what accounting academia really entails and discover if it was a career path I want to follow. During the mentorship program we explored the three aspects of a professor’s job: research, teaching and service.
Research
What I found most interesting was the research part of the job and how it provides professors with both freedoms and pressures. Freedom to manage your own work schedule, research the questions that you find interesting and decide how to answer them in your own way. Being able to create new knowledge and having your research influence others is definitely something that I think I would enjoy. On the other hand, academics don’t have a set 9-5pm, but that doesn’t mean that their jobs don’t come with the pressure to perform. Getting your research published in a highly rated research journal after sometimes spending years researching a paper seems daunting. Additionally, the path to accounting academia is long and challenging, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel when graduation day comes.
During the mentorship I was able to discuss and analyze different papers within performance management (a field I find extremely intriguing). This allowed me to think about the different research questions I would like to explore. I think a difficult part of being an academic would be choosing a specific path to research, although we did learn how finding one research hole and ‘digging really, really deep’ is important. As an academic you become an expert on a very specific aspect of your field. With so many things unexplored I think I would find it difficult to distinguish just one thing to focus on!
Teaching
As a student we all get to understand the types of teaching styles that we learn best with and know which professor’s classes we particularly enjoy. But do we stop to think about the time and effort put into writing the syllabus? Deciding how to weigh grades? Deliver the content? I think I underestimated the effort required to not only run but prepare to teach a university course. Through the mentorship I learned about how important a syllabus really is and we discussed the tips and tricks of keeping students engaged. It was fun to think about my courses from a different perspective.
Service
During this mentorship I was also able to attend Research Seminars where professors from all over the world present their ideas for papers that they are trying to publish in order to receive feedback, suggestions and advice from others in the field. When I asked how academics gained a spot to present at these sessions (how do they all know each other?) I was told about the highly anticipated yearly conferences where academics are able to network, share ideas and discover the latest research going on in the field (all at a beautiful location). Additionally, when academics have such specific niches of research, they are able to get to know others that study the same things even if they are in another country. I found it very interesting that collaborators on research could be on the other side of the world because of the close-knit community of accounting academia. These peer-to-peer feedback seminars are one type of collegiality, the third arm of a professor’s duties.
Overall, I think the CPMRE Academic Mentorship Program allowed me to explore what I would be getting into if I chose to pursue accounting academia. I enjoyed the chance to really understand what I like about performance management and discuss interesting papers with my peers and professors. Although, as of right now, I don’t believe a PhD is in my immediate future, I believe that it’s beneficial to explore all the potential paths that are available for your future before settling on where you want to go, this program definitely helped me do that.
About Bianca
Bianca Bowen is a fourth-year fellow in Accounting and Financial Management (AFM). Bianca’s experience on two international exchanges has led to her interest in the global business world and her pursuit of a minor in International Studies and Trade with a focus on the French language. She loves to read and listen to podcasts - her favourites being Ologies, Hidden Brain, and Revisionist History. Bianca aspires to achieve her CPA designation and continue to learn, travel, and have an impact in her future career.