ASU professor changes perspective on accounting

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June 19, 2023

As a college freshman, Scott Emett was sure of one thing: He never wanted to pursue a career in accounting. So he took the first introductory accounting course required for his major. The professor’s wit, charisma, and passion for the subject completely changed Emetts’ misconceptions about the field. Now an associate professor in the WP Carey School of Business’s School of Accountancy, Emett is gaining recognition for teaching the next generation about the power of accounting. On May 18, Emett was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award at the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon (ASCPA) for updating the school’s introductory accounting curriculum. As an advocate for accounting and education professionals across the state, the ASCPA recognizes an educator annually for their innovation and dedication to accounting education. I am honored and happy to receive this award. I see it as an acknowledgment of the collective effort we’ve made as a department to help students see the value of accounting, Emett said.

Through technology, relevant examples, and highlighting non-traditional career paths, Emett educates students to leverage their accounting knowledge regardless of their future profession. ASU Associate Professor Scott Emett was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA) for updating the WP Carey School of Business introductory accounting curriculum. Download the full image

I knew I wanted to change students’ perspectives on what accounting is and what it accomplishes, she said. Accounting is all about giving you a concrete skill set that you can use to produce actionable information about companies. The more you acquire that skill set, the more you can produce useful information and ultimately make better decisions.

Using real world examples

In 2020, Emett received the Innovation in Accounting Education Award from the American Accounting Association (AAA). As the largest community of accounting professionals in academia, the association annually awards the award to an individual, group or institution for the advancement of accounting education.

As companies struggle to fill accounting positions and qualified candidates opt for roles in banking and technology, innovation in accounting education is critical to fixing the talent pipeline. I think one of the reasons we’ve seen this pipeline problem is that students have a lot of misconceptions about what accountants do, Emett said. One thing I’ve tried to do in class is help students see what you can do with an accounting degree.

Emett teaches ACC 231: Uses of Accounting Information, an introductory accounting course required of 300 students for WP Carey undergraduate students. She says experiential learning and instructor engagement are key to keeping her audience interested in the topic. I recognize that, in some ways, I have a very skeptical audience, Emett said. The most satisfying thing for me is seeing the faces of the engaged and focused students. It makes me feel good the way I’m approaching the course. Emett begins each class with a case study highlighting how the concept affects real-life business problems. By incorporating new technologies into her lessons, she points out that pairing accounting with technology can help produce more useful insights. Over the past six months, Emett has focused primarily on the banking crisis as a timely example of how accounting woes have affected Silicon Valley Bank and how its leaders might have anticipated the crisis. Through recorded interviews with alumni, Emett also exposes students to non-traditional career paths. He recently spoke with two alumni using their accounting degrees in unique ways: one as a forensic accountant for the FBI and one as the chief financial officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Examples of pupils using accounting in fruitful and rewarding career paths help students visualize the application of their accounting skills in many professions. Many of our students don’t see these other opportunities available to them and were trying to get the message out there, Emett said. Accounting is not just payables, receivables and spreadsheets. While Emett hopes to help solve the talent pipeline problem by exposing students who could succeed as accounting majors to possibilities in the field, he ultimately wants to equip all of his students, regardless of their major, with tools to better understand how to leverage accounting in their lives. I want students to leave my class with a solid foundation in accounting and an appreciation of how that foundation can benefit their careers, she said, regardless of the specific career path they’re choosing.

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