A/ProfJames Wakefield

James Wakefield is the MBA Program Director (on-campus) and is an Associate Professor at the UTS Business School in the Accounting Discipline Group. James' education research focuses on applying innovations and strategies to improve student inclusion and engagement in accounting and business tertiary education. In particular, he has investigated the effectiveness of AI integration in accounting courses, peer approaches to student induction, synchronised seminar slides with integrated quizzes, social media, student screencasting, online peer-review forums, and tablet computing-enabled annotation and sharing technologies. He also undertakes research in management accounting, with a track record of publications relating to organisational control, internal control and budget systems. His research is subject to three AFAANZ conference awards, has been funded by numerous grants and is mentioned in media, including Times Higher Education and CNN. The seminal nature of James' research has been noted to impact practice in the education sector.

James has received multiple national awards for teaching excellence. In 2021, James received the Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning from the Australian Business Deans Council and the First Year Accounting Competition Accounting Educator Award from Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. James was awarded the 2018 Universities Australia Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning for "a sustained research-informed set of approaches to influence, motivate and inspire students to engage and achieve higher performance in introductory accounting and beyond". He has also received numerous institutional-based teaching awards and recognition in top teaching lists, as recently as 2024.

James has been a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford (Saïd Business School), Monash University (Department of Accounting), University of Southern California (Leventhal School of Accounting) and Luiss University Rome. James completed the International Teachers Programme (ITP) in 2017.

James applies his expertise in accounting and education to his work with several not-for-profit organisations. He is currently a director at the Corruption Prevention Network (CPN) of NSW and a member of the AFAANZ Education Sub-committee.

Prior to joining UTS, James worked in auditing at a Big Four accounting firm and a large multinational retailer in stock administration.