46 year old CPA wants to earn reputable doctorate - need advice

Question

I am new to this forum and need/want advice. I am 46 years old, hold a CPA license and have a Macc from an AACSB accredited university.

My goal is to obtain a doctoral degree and research/teach at a university...not necessarily a top university, but not a small, liberal arts college either.

It appears that I have almost certainly missed the traditional PhD boat due to my advanced age (though I will still apply to several schools). While no program head would admit it, my understanding is that BUSINESS Phds in the U.S. really don't accept students much older than 30.

I've also researched DBAs/Executive Phds too. And while I don't hate the idea of these, the price tags are usually somewhere around $120,000 before travel expenses (these are hybrid programs).

Further, I have ZERO desire to obtain a Phd from a school like Walden, Capella, Northcentral, etc.

So my question is this: what do you think (you obviously can't know) my prospects would be with an out-of-field Phd? There are a few Phd degrees in the U.S. in fields like Human Resources, etc. that are somewhat related...but are not true business degrees. In other words, they would not be AACSB accredited because that is only available for business schools. There are a handful of these programs throughout the U.S. at reputable schools that are both hybrid and affordable.

I would have a Masters in accountancy, a CPA license, and of course the somewhat out-of-field doctorate.

Any advice is appreciated. Just remember...I am 46...not 22 with tons of options.

Thank you

Answer 1

Age >40 not a problem

I am a faculty member at a top-50 business school. We would definitely consider candidates who are your age. In fact, your age is something of an advantage in that you would certainly have substantial real-world experience.

... but we train researchers

Your stated primary goal of teaching would definitely be a strike against you. Top PhD programs are primarily in the business of training people who have research as a primary goal. The training we offer is primarily how to create new knowledge, as well as socialization into the institutions of academic research.

Answer 2

I can identify since I went for a "PhD-and-academic-career" after 25 years of a professional career in the private sector (Finance & Administration Director kind of stuff). Although countries are rather different (mine is Greece), we are both in the "western civilization" chunk of humanity so maybe some similarities apply.

What the persons interviewing me for the PhD wanted really to be convinced about, was that I was really serious about pursuing an academic career. In other words "I am doing the PhD for the love of science" (translation in the ears of third parties: I am bored with my life / I have a mid-life crisis /I failed in my current profession etc), wouldn't have cut it. "I want to change course because I very much like scientific research, and I like teaching too), and generally I like engaging in new things" was the correct approach.

And then, even though I had completed a full-time 2-year Master of Science when young, they had me doing it all over again, in order to qualify for the PhD.

I am not sure though about not exploiting your past education and professional experience.

From my economist's point of view (I am a certified accountant also), there is abundant space for important research in linking/bringing together the Accounting and Economics points-of-view on researching the workings of the private sector in the economy.

Or, embarking on a research project combining Management Science and Accounting with a quantitative approach, appears also to be an open field.

Answer 3

It is pretty difficult to provide a specific advice because you probably have pretty tight constraints in terms of time, family, location, etc. My advice would be to spend a lot of time exploring opportunities and weighing different options. PhD at 46 is definitely a good idea if you like teaching. It takes only 3-5 years to get it and it will make you employable long past the retirement age.

My personal opinion is that you should give a lot of weight to a location of the university so you don't have to spend too much time/money traveling as your opportunity costs must be pretty high now.

Also you should analyze the skills that you have and see what kind of research you can apply it to. Being an experienced accountant, you probably have quite a few valuable skills that you can apply to many fields. Going out of field is quite alright as long as you are interested in it and apply the skills you are strong at. For example, my masters was in finance and I ended up doing PhD studying risks in agricultural business. Worked out just fine and of course I went into another field after I got the PhD, applying my new set of skills. Come to think about it, progress is pretty fast so I'll probably end up working on a field that doesn't yet exist later in my career.

Answer 4

want to earn reputable doctorate - need advice

Your desire is misplaced. That is, an academic degree is not a goal in itself, it is a recognition of work done. A university "awarding" the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, or Master of Arts, or whatever, means that its academic bodies recognize your academic work - studies and/or research as the case may be - at the institution makes you worthy of that recognition.

So don't think about what degree you want to achieve, think about what kind of research you're interested in doing. If there isn't a specific question you want to study in depth, then you should not enter a doctoral problem. Or at least - if there isn't a narrow field which you want get into in great depths, don't enter such a program.

I realize that I'm saying "If you're not a researcher then you don't get to teach" - and that's partially the point in much of the academic system: That Humboldtian principle, the marriage of the expansion of knowledge by research and the dissemination of knowledge by teaching. There are colleges, and peripheral domains within universities, when non-researchers teach. Sometimes this creeps into the core programs too. In those cases, a wealth of practical experience can work in your favor looking for a teaching position. I would consider that non-research-based route as well.