Gabelli Phd student: Merging professional experience, theory

Executive | Sep 18, 2016 | Gabelli School of Business

Joseph Micale, PhD ’21

Joseph Micale, PhD ’21, worked in accounting as a public auditor for four years.

Now he plans to merge his professional experience with theory through the Gabelli School of Business’ new PhD program.

“I have worked in the industry for a while, so I have a good understanding of the practicality,” said Micale, 27. “I’d like to get the academic [background] and learn how to be a proper researcher.”

Micale, a Staten Island native, has plenty of experience in higher education as well. He holds a BS and an MS in accounting from SUNY Binghamton, and he has been considering a PhD and an academic career for a long time.

When he learned from a friend that Fordham was creating a new program, he was intrigued.

“The fact that it’s a first-time program excited me,” he said. “I’ll have a little bit more involvement in [its] creation, and I can pick people’s brains a little bit more. I was really excited about getting more focused attention from the faculty.”

Micale hopes to focus some of his research on audit quality and financial accounting.

He is aware of the journey he faces — five years of intense study — but he believes his experience running half marathons will help.

“They say running is 95 percent mental and 5 percent physical, so [I’ll be] keeping that in mind and knowing that I can do it,” he said. “It’s going to be hard, but I can just push myself to keep going, and it will work itself out.”