Episode 11: From BBA to Laurier Research Chair: The journey to become a top-ranked researcher

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Episode 11 features Leslie Berger (BBA '99), Professor and Laurier Lazaridis Research Chair.

Leslie Berger started her career at Laurier, graduating from the BBA program and receiving her undergrad degree and chartered accountant (CA) designation. Her first job after school was at a large accounting firm. The role itself was exciting, but Berger had the opportunity to teach accounting part-time and discovered an even bigger passion. 

Pursuing this newfound love of teaching, Berger returned to school, earning her PhD in Accounting at the University of Waterloo.  

Soon after, she returned to Laurier, this time as an accounting professor. She began researching managerial accounting fascinated by how accountants and other skill-based professions (like engineers and lawyers) share knowledge within their organizations.  

Now in her 14th year of being a Laurier professor, Berger has become a Tier I Laurier and Lazaridis Research Chair and one of the top-ranked managerial accounting researchers in the world. She, along with other managerial accounting researchers at Laurier, have recently been ranked fifth globally and second in Canada as part of the Brigham Young University research in accounting rankings.  

As technology continues to develop, knowledge sharing will face new challenges within organizations, and Berger’s research will be at the forefront of creating more open and communicative organizations in an increasingly complex world.  

This episode dives into the journey of a research chair and is a terrific listen for anyone considering a PhD career path. 

About Leslie

Leslie Berger teaches Integrated Cases in Accounting in the Graduate Diploma in Accounting.  She also co-teaches PhD seminar courses in accounting. Professor Berger has articles published in Accounting Organizations and Society, Journal of Management Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory and Issues in Accounting Education.   

Professor Berger's research interests include performance measurement, knowledge sharing, incentive designs and other behavioural topics in management accounting and auditing.