Enrolment motivation of accounting doctoral students: professionally qualified and non-professionally qualified accountants

The gap between accounting research and practice can be bridged by academic faculty who are professionally qualified and research trained. However, accounting suffers an acute shortage of accounting doctoral graduates, especially those with a professional accounting qualification, due to a lack of enrolments. This study examines the motivation of 36 accounting doctoral students, including 13 professionally qualified and 23 non-professionally qualified, to provide insights on what makes accounting doctoral education attractive to potential doctoral applicants. Their motivation is analysed using self-determination theory (SDT), which predicts that enrolment to doctoral education is more likely with self-motivated or self-determined individuals. Motivations for enrolling for doctoral education include expectations of a career in academia, enjoyment of research or interest in the topic, status of the PhD qualification and work-life balance. Professionally qualified doctoral students were motivated to enrol because of dissatisfaction with their professional career and lack of autonomy. The paper identifies five motivations for enrolling for doctoral education not reported in the prior literature.