How many chartered accountants do you know who are also PhD holders? Dr Carla Serfontein, Senior Lecturer in Management Accounting in the University of the Free State (UFS)
School of Accountancy, challenged the status quo. Dr Serfontein walked across the Callie Human stage during the morning graduation session on Wednesday 19 April 2023.
Obtaining a PhD is a milestone in the career of any academic, attesting not only to being a subject matter expert with proven credibility, but also to many hours of personal sacrifice and commitment to their discipline. Individuals who hold a PhD while also being a chartered accountant (SA) are relatively scarce, but this is an ideal combination for
South African accountancy academics – as they have stature both from a professional and academic perspective. The UFS School of Accountancy is fortunate to have three such individuals, including Dr Serfontein, who was recently awarded her PhD in Management Accounting.
Dr Serfontein says obtaining her PhD in her lecturing field has expanded her knowledge in the subject area. “The UFS supported me by giving me the opportunity to be supervised by two truly outstanding academics, Prof Van Aardt Smit and Dr Cornelie Crous. That, to me, was an invaluable contribution, not only in obtaining this qualification but also in the growth that I experienced on this journey.”
Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director of the School of Accountancy, says he is proud of Dr Serfontein’s achievement. “With her thesis, Cost Efficiency at South African Universities, she highlights the flaws of conventional budgeting techniques in ensuring cost efficiencies and maximising input-output relationships at South African universities. This is indeed a ground-breaking study and holds significant implications for how universities should be managed from a financial perspective. We are proud to have individuals of Dr Serfontein’s stature in the School of Accountancy.”