Expand the accounting pipeline with a mentorship circle

Even a simple nudge in the right direction can create a lifetime of impact. Such is the power of effective mentoring. 

Consider the example of Oprah Winfrey, who was once moved to tears on her syndicated TV show when one of her mentors was a surprise guest. Said Winfrey, “One of the defining moments of my life came in fourth grade, the year I was a student in Mrs. Duncan’s class. … For the first time, I wasn’t afraid to be smart, and she often stayed after school to work with me.”  

What does this have to do with accounting education? At a time when the CPA pipeline is running slow, mentoring can be a powerful tool to recruit potentially interested students into accounting and guide them to careers in the profession.

Mentoring played a key role in my career. When I was a college student in 2005, my audit professor became my mentor. He sowed the seeds of inspiration and kindled my flame of interest in teaching as a profession. A dozen years later, when the chair of the University of North Texas (UNT) Department of Accounting, Dr. Ananth Seetharaman, PhD, CPA,  initiated a new program to expand the accounting pipeline through mentoring, I was delighted to take the lead.

The mentorship circle is a key part of the department’s strategy to recruit high potential students into the accounting profession. The program invites first- and second-year students to participate based on academic excellence (GPA and test scores). Students accepted into the program are designated as accounting scholars and provided support for the student journey from their first year through university graduation and CPA exam preparation. From a modest start in 2017 with a group of seven students, the program now includes 90 active students either serving as mentors or being mentored.

HOW THE CIRCLE WORKS

The mentorship circle includes both “buddy” mentoring and professional mentoring, which are defined as follows:

Buddy mentoring

This is peer-to-peer mentoring in which freshmen and sophomores are matched with juniors, seniors, or graduate students who are former mentees in good academic standing or members of the Beta Alpha Psi honor society. These mentors are slightly ahead of the mentees in their accounting journey and offer guidance based on having recently walked the same or a similar path. Mentees have found their peers’ perspectives to be exceptionally valuable.

“This program provided me with a wonderful buddy mentor who was able to offer me advice on things like class selection, accounting programs, and recruitment,” says Lauren Dearing, a 2021 UNT graduate who now works as a tax associate with KPMG. “My buddy provided me with insight that could only come from a fellow student.”

The buddy mentoring process begins with inspiring a mentor to be the best buddy they can be. Emails are sent to every buddy mentor letting them know that mentoring develops their leadership skills and that the department values their role in positively affecting their peer accounting students. This personalized email gets the ball rolling.

Following the email communication, a group meeting is organized. At this event, popularly known as “The Great Impressions,” five or six mentors are asked to provide perspective on how they made the first great impression that landed them the internship or full-time job offer of their choice. The Great Impressions event empowers mentors to share their voice and make an impact.

Mentors also answer a variety of questions at the event:        

• How did they choose between audit and tax?
• What was the culture like at the firm where they interviewed or interned? Did it affect their final offer decision?
• What was a typical day in their internship like?
• What were their unique internship experiences, challenges, and learning moments?
• What tips would they like to share with the mentee group?

An alumnus who recently passed the CPA exam within a year of graduation is also invited to share success tips and further inspire students. The department designates them as a “CPA Rockstar” and they take center stage, sharing their strategies and reinforcing that success in the CPA exam is an attainable goal.

Following the group meeting, each mentor meets one-on-one with their mentee at least once more, at the end of the semester. Many of them will schedule additional meetings to stay connected through the semester and beyond. “We are like an answer bank and will be happy to answer any questions that mentees may have,” said Kathryn Pierson, a graduate student who has been a mentor for several years and will be graduating with a master’s in accounting in spring 2024.

Professional mentoring

After two semesters of buddy mentoring, mentees are then matched with professional mentors from the department’s Junior Advisory Board, which consists of CPA alumni and practicing professionals who graduated in the past two to eight years.

Mentor-student matches are made based on a career path of interest, usually audit or tax, though a number of undecided students will discuss career tracks with their mentors before choosing their path.

Professional mentoring is launched virtually via an event on Zoom. Mentees are assigned to breakout rooms with mentors. Mentors find this to be an easy medium to use while at their workplace. A follow-up social is then held the following month so mentors and mentees can meet face-to-face to continue their conversation.

Points of discussion with professional mentors include:

• Mentor’s work and career journey;
• Accounting career options and job preparation;
• Debunking career stereotypes;
• Path to CPA;
• How to effectively network in the workplace;
• Transitioning from student to professional;
• Accounting career progression; and
• Internship or job interview tips; résumé critiques.

Mentees are also provided with goal cards (Download an example) and are asked to reflect on and discuss their academic and professional development goals with mentors. Professional mentors have acted as a sounding board for students looking to explore career alternatives and gain realistic perspectives of work-life.

MENTORING WITH A PURPOSE

Fostering meaningful mentoring relationships early on helps to inspire a mentoring mindset among students by empowering mentors to share their experiences and learning moments with others. For mentees, it’s an opportunity to navigate their college years with a sense of purpose, motivating them to develop their potential in the direction they seek.

“Coming into college, I was not expecting mentorship and friendship with those that I aspire to fill the shoes of, but I am so grateful to the upperclassmen who took me under their wings to help guide me on my journey,” said Renee Wilhite, who has progressed from being a mentee in her initial years in the program to becoming a mentor and president of the Professional Accounting Student Society.

The department also collaborates with Beta Alpha Psi leaders who step in to serve as buddy mentors for the mentoring program. “Beta Alpha Psi UNT officers and members are grateful for the opportunity to serve as buddy mentors and connect with freshmen and sophomores early on in their careers,” said Beth Bresnahan, president of UNT’s BAP. “There is value on both sides of mentorship. I’m inspired by my mentee and grateful for the avenue to connect through this program.”

Mentorship is a gift that keeps giving and the benefits extend beyond just the semester. “Professional mentoring helped me develop the confidence to head into the internship recruiting process. My mentor provided me with invaluable advice and perspective that prepared me well,” said Megan Lakey, the department’s most recent CPA Rockstar. She graduated in May 2023 and came back to address students at the buddy mentoring event this October.

Professional mentors have also found mentoring to be a fulfilling experience. “I think one of the aspects of UNT’s mentorship model is that students are paired with mentors who have sat in the same classrooms with the same professors, which creates a good connection,” says Dalicia Savoie, CPA, a senior audit associate at PwC and a Junior Advisory Board member. “I was paired with my mentee in the fall of 2022 and we started meeting every other Friday for about one hour. I have been able to watch my mentee’s confidence and communication skills grow over this last year, which has been rewarding. This was my first one-on-one mentoring experience and it has helped me develop as a mentor and professional. Being a mentor has also helped me become a better mentee with my own mentors within the firm.”

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

The mentorship circle program has encountered a few challenges, such as scheduling conflicts due to juggling work and class schedules and the occasional communication gap. On the whole, however, the program has been a win-win for everyone, including students, alumni, and the profession as a whole. It’s given mentees an opportunity to tap into the collective experiences of our alumni community. It’s helped our motivated alumni to stay connected to the university and further develop the profession by inspiring students to take on similar roles and follow their path.

It also has been beneficial to first-generation students who have never had a mentor prior to this program. “Being a first-generation student can be difficult when trying to find some form of guidance through an academic and early professional career,” said Erik Dominguez, a PCAOB scholar who is graduating in December and will be joining a Big Four firm as an audit associate. “Thankfully, I was able to have a buddy mentor and professional mentor through my college experience. I got an idea of how to get early internships, do well in interviews, and overall, how to be the best professional version of myself. I joined the program without a lot of direction and now I’m graduating with a full-time job, internship experience, and some amazing connections/friends.”

The ultimate idea of the program is to inspire a mentoring mindset among students so the mentoring circle can continue to grow as student mentees come back as mentors. That’s the ripple effect, and the pebble never knows how far the ripple reaches. A structured and well-implemented mentoring program with a growing circle can have a transformative effect on building and growing the next generation of accounting professionals — something our profession greatly needs today. After all, ChatGPT and AI cannot replace the human factor of mentorship.

Madhuri Bandla, CPA, CFE, is a senior lecturer in the department of accounting at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.