Rate My Professor Nicola Beatson

Nicola Beatson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Accountancy and Finance at the University of Otago's Otago Business School. She completed her Bachelor of Commerce in 2009, Master of Commerce in 2016, and Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting in 2019, all at the University of Otago. Her PhD thesis, "The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Accounting Education," investigated the impact of self-efficacy on accounting students' learning and performance. Starting as a Teaching Fellow delivering large core accounting courses, Beatson advanced to Senior Lecturer. She managed a heavy teaching load—double that of research-active staff—while pursuing her PhD part-time, conducting additional research projects, and raising three children.

Beatson's research specializes in accounting education, emphasizing non-cognitive factors including self-efficacy beliefs, sense of belonging, peer and teacher feedback, and technology use in enhancing student achievement and engagement. Notable publications include "The influence of self‐efficacy beliefs and prior learning on performance" (2020), "Sense of belonging during a global pandemic: a case of accounting students" (2022), "An examination of self‐efficacy and sense of belonging on accounting student achievement" (2023), and "Unpacking student responses to discrepant peer and teacher feedback: a cross-national comparison" (2025). Her findings highlight self-efficacy as a superior predictor of accounting success compared to prior academic preparation. Beatson has earned prestigious teaching honors: Otago Teaching Excellence Award (2019), Overall Premier Lecturer (2018), Premier Commerce Teaching Award (2017), OUSA Top Ten Lecturers (2015), and Disability Information and Support Appreciation Award (2016). She won the 2017 University of Otago Three-Minute Thesis competition with "Confidence Matters." Professionally, she contributed to the AFAANZ Accounting Education Special Interest Group organising committee since 2015, served on conference technical committees, acted as Associate Editor for Accounting Education, and joined the Journal of Accounting Education's editorial review board. Her scholarship has garnered 793 citations per Google Scholar.