The PhD degree is awarded for the accomplishment of independent and original research and reporting thereon in a dissertation. The primary requirements include course work, the passing of a comprehensive examination and acceptance of a thesis by a supervisory committee.
Students may be admitted to the program either with a Master's degree or with an Honours Bachelor's degree.
Students from various backgrounds, including economics, mathematics, statistics, behavioural science, and related disciplines are encouraged to apply. Admissions will not be confined to those with a background in accounting, commerce, or business administration.
Admission standards are high. Decisions will be made on the basis of:
- Successful completion of a master's degree or Honour's Bachelor's degree with at least an A-average.
- Three letters of reference
- Relevant grades
- Performance on the GMAT
Students whose first language is not English, may be required to provide proof of competency in English. For those taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a score of at least 600 (250 on the computerized version) is required with a score of 5 in the Test of Written English (TWE). (See Academic Regulations - English Language Proficiency Certification for other acceptable tests of English).
Application Deadline for September admissions is January 31.
Normally, admission decisions will be made by the end of March, for admission the following September.
The program consists of course work, a comprehensive examination, and a thesis. At the completion of the program, the student is expected to be capable of conducting research in a selected functional area within the School of Accountancy. This will require specialization in the following ways:
Selection of an appropriate core discipline specialty from economics, finance, behavioural science, or related core disciplines, so as to provide the foundation for the chosen functional area and methods specialty. A sound foundation in economics and finance is essential for several of the functional areas. Accordingly, economics and finance may be an appropriate component of the core discipline.
Selection of one functional area chosen from auditing, financial accounting, management accounting, or taxation.
Selection of one area of methods specialty from empirical, analytical, or experimental.
While specialization is essential for a student to be able to conduct research in a chosen functional area, breadth in the core disciplines is also important. The student is expected to be familiar with important research questions and methods in all functional areas.
Students will select appropriate course work for their chosen core discipline, functional area and methods. Specific requirements are as follows:
Course selections shall be approved each term, in advance, by the Graduate Officer
- Twelve graduate level courses (unit weight of 0.5) as follows:
- Introduction to research. ACC 781 will be offered to all PhD students in their first year and will introduce them to important research questions and methods in all functional areas. This course will stress issues of research design.
- PhD Seminars. Four PhD seminar courses (unit weight of 0.5) within the School of Accountancy.
- Core discipline requirement. Graduate-level courses from at least two of the following: economics, finance, psychology, sociology or other core disciplines to provide the appropriate foundation for the chosen functional area and methods specialty.
- Statistics and Quantitative Methods. Graduate-level courses chosen from the following: statistics, econometrics, psychometrics, research design or similar areas; and mathematical economics or game theory.
- All students are required to complete a PhD Research Paper in the first spring term. Regulations for the research paper and its presentation to faculty are available from the School of Accountancy.
- All students are expected to regularly attend the School's research workshops since an early orientation to research is critical for success in the program.
The Graduate Studies Committee of the School of Accountancy must approve each student's course work. It may modify or extend course requirements where it deems the student's background and research interests warrants it. At the discretion of the Committee, additional courses beyond the minimum PhD requirements may be required of individual students. The Committee may also substitute two senior undergraduate courses if the chosen graduate-level core discipline or methods courses are unavailable.
When entering the program, each student will be assigned a faculty advisor who will assist the Committee in approving appropriate course work and ensure an early orientation to research. The faculty advisor and Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee will jointly approve the student's choice of specialization, which must be identified by the end of the first spring term of study following which the Graduate Studies Committee will review the student's program and appoint a new faculty advisor, if necessary. Formal reviews of the student's progress will be conducted by the Graduate Studies Committee. Students whose progress does not meet the program's standards will be required to withdraw.
Upon satisfactory completion of course work (no failures, 78% average) the student will write a comprehensive examination measuring knowledge in the chosen core discipline, functional area and methods specialty. The Graduate Officer will form an examinations committee. This committee will set the comprehensive examination and recommend pass/fail to the Graduate Officer. The Graduate Officer must approve the comprehensive examination before it is taken and the pass/fail status before the students learn of the results. The written examination component of the comprehensive examination will have two requirements:
- Specialist - to measure whether the student has the necessary foundation, methodological knowledge and skills to conduct research in the chosen methods specialty;
- Breadth - to measure understanding of the various research questions and methods used in accounting research. A specialist level of knowledge will not be expected in research issues outside the student's selected core discipline, functional area and methods speciality.
Within one month of successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the Graduate Officer will consult with the candidate to identify a potential thesis supervisor and other members of an Advisory Committee. This is only an initial Advisory Committee; its membership may change over time as the thesis research evolves. The supervisor must be an Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor (ADDS) as described in the Organization of Graduate Studies section of this calendar. Such persons are marked with a "+" in the listing of faculty of above. The supervisor must be from the School of Accountancy, although if there are two co-supervisors, only one need be from the School of Accountancy. One member of the Advisory Committee will be from outside the School of Accountancy but within the University. Further regulations concerning the Advisory Committee are found in the Academic Regulations section of this calendar.
The student will submit a proposal for the PhD thesis containing a detailed statement and justification of a research problem and method and a review of relevant literature. An acceptable proposal will demonstrate that the candidate has developed a research plan that should lead to an acceptable thesis and that the candidate has a clear understanding of the problem addressed, the relevant literature, and the research method. Normally the proposal should be a description of planned work rather than a work in progress. The proposal will be presented at a research seminar in the School of Accountancy. Regulations for PhD proposals and PhD proposal seminars are available from the School of Accountancy.
The completed thesis will be defended in an oral examination conducted in accordance with the general requirements of the University.
Normally, there will be no more than four terms of course work in order to ensure timely completion of the program and to provide time for research. Course work may, however, include prerequisites to the required courses, particularly if the student has been admitted with an Honours Bachelor's degree. No student who requires more than two terms of prerequisite course work will be admitted to the program. It is expected that, after completion of any prerequisite course work, the student will complete the course requirements and write the comprehensive examination within two years, and complete the thesis within four years of admission.
The University Senate has set the following time limits for a PhD program:
- from an Honours Bachelor's degree: 18 terms (6 years)
- from a Master's degree: 12 terms (4 years)
No language requirements, other than English, are specified.
Students are advised to consult the Academic Regulations for graduate programs of the University of Waterloo for additional information and requirements.