The shock of reality: I went to sleep an accountant and woke up a professor ...

This study aims to identify the main problems faced by teachers of accounting in the first three years of their career. For this purpose, references were consulted on the career phases of professors and the problems they face (Goncalves, 1995, 2009; Huberman, 1989, 2000; Veenman, 1984). Questionnaires, with open and closed questions, were given to 84 recently hired Brazilian professors of accounting. By means of a quantitative and qualitative analysis, the results indicate that the lack of teacher training can cause these professors to suffer a "shock of reality". The findings also evidence that the main problems that afflict these teachers are: unmotivated students, heterogeneous class makeup, crowded classrooms, lack of time, difficulty to determine the level of learning, and burdensome administrative duties.