Research–teaching yin–yang? An empirical study of accounting and finance academics in Australia and New Zealand

This paper uses a survey to explore relations between teaching and research of accounting and finance academics in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). Previous research in other countries on the relationship between research and teaching is inconclusive. Two recent studies consider research-teaching relations in the discipline of accounting in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). This investigation extends work undertaken in the UK to ANZ. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identifies four factors that describe the positive effects of relations between research and teaching and five factors that limit productive relations between the two. This dichotomy we term the teaching–research Gestalt. Contrary to expectations, research-active faculty see little merit in integrating research with teaching while more junior and teaching-oriented faculty show support for a teaching–research Gestalt. In addition, the empirical model underlying the teaching-research Gestalt is remarkably similar in its structure across both ANZ and the UK, suggesting the findings are generalizable to the accounting and finance discipline. Extensions to other jurisdictions and allied disciplines are encouraged.