This paper aims to focus on two aspects of student attendance, an area that has received little attention in the higher education literature, namely the reasons why some students do not attend classes, and the issue of whether attendance improves academic performance. The paper begins by reviewing a number of reasons for non-attendance, including issues relating to financial hardship and term-time employment. The paper questions whether student attendance impacts upon academic performance and reports the results of a study into aspects of attendance on an accounting module at a Scottish university. The paper concludes that, in today's higher education environment, it is to be expected that considerable numbers of students will be absent for a variety of reasons that vary in their worthiness. Students' participation in part-time employment was the most frequently cited reason for non-attendance. Some aspects of the students' academic work may affect attendance, such as the timing of classes and coursework assignments. A clear positive relationship between attendance at classes and subsequent academic performance was evident.

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The profile of the accounting academic has changed in recent years. The earliest academics were often recruited from the accountancy profession. Now the typical accounting academic recruit has a profile similar to the rest of the university, with the PhD being the qualification of choice. The reasons for this trend are examined using a cultural and institutional logics framework. The recruitment context and the institutional changes impacting on recruitment in accounting in academia are explored through the views of heads of department who have knowledge of both their institution's recruitment policies and of the requirements of their discipline. As the research assessment process appears to be a driver of changing recruitment patterns, recruitment is considered in contrasting contexts: Scotland, where periodic research assessment takes place in both old and new universities, and the Republic of Ireland which does not have such a process. Despite differences in the views expressed by heads in these different contexts and differences in their research environments, the trend in all sectors is towards the recruitment (Scotland) or development (Republic of Ireland) of PhD holders rather than professionally qualified staff. The consequences for the nature of the discipline are discussed.