Lecturers celebrate double doctoral success

Two popular College of Business lecturers truly shared the excitement of their students’ graduation ceremonies this week when they crossed the stage to receive their own doctoral degrees.

Dr Warwick Stent, from the School of Accountancy, and Dr Jeffrey Stangl, from the School of Economics and Finance, both achieved their PhDs after years of studying while also working as lecturers at Massey University.

The duo received enthusiastic ovations at their respective ceremonies from their colleagues, graduating students, and the audience.

Dr Stent, who has taught the School of Accountancy’s auditing papers since 2005 and began working on his doctoral thesis in 2007, says it is “nice to have such a long project completed”, and that he’s looking forward to working on some new projects and spending more time with his family.

Dr Stangl says he is also ready to move into new research areas, after working for more than six years on his doctoral thesis on political, business, and sentiment investor cycles. He says his real passion is for improving financial literacy, which he pursues as a board member of the New Zealand Centre for Personal Financial Education, a joint initiative between Westpac and Massey University.

“I see my future research following that passion,” Dr Stangl says. “I’m lucky that financial literacy is a hot topic, so it’s a very teachable moment. As universities are effectively government-funded organisations, I think we need to provide research that is of use to the New Zealanders who indirectly pay for it.”

Dr Stangl’s wife, Loren, is also a lecturer within the College of Business and in the final stages of completing her own doctoral thesis, so the couple’s two teenaged children were as happy as their father on his graduation day.

“I don’t think we have put them off going to university but both have said, ‘No way, I’ll never do a PhD,’” Dr Stangl says.

Both lecturers feel lucky to have been supported by Massey University while pursuing their post-graduate studies, and now look forward to feeding their research learnings into their teaching programmes.

Dr Stent, who researched the differences between early and late adopters of International Financial Reporting Standards in New Zealand for his thesis, says he now has plenty of interesting case studies to discuss in class.

“One example that always springs to mind is Tourism Holdings Limited whose profits went up 70 per cent in the year they adopted the new reporting standards,” Dr Stent says. “It’s important that students understand just how important disclosure information is, and what a big effect a change in accounting policy can have on financial statements.”

The process of studying for their PhDs has also confirmed for both their love of working in an academic environment.

“The calibre of people at the School of Accountancy and Massey University make it a very stimulating environment to work in,” Dr Stent says. “The long road to a PhD has much less uphill in a place like this and I am very grateful for that.”

Dr Stangl is looking forward to guiding more students on their own learning journeys. “I really enjoy dealing with the students. I find it gratifying when I see that occasional spark in a student’s eye, when you see that ‘I got it’ moment, and you know you have made a difference in their lives.”

Dr Stent and Dr Stangl are two of 32 doctoral candidates to graduate during Massey University’s six Albany campus ceremonies. More than 1000 students will be capped by the end of the week, with further graduation ceremonies to take place in Palmerston North and Wellington in May.