From First to Second Generation Professional Doctorate

Abstract

The development of Professional Doctorates in Australia and elsewhere in the 1990s has lead to a reconsideration of the nature of the doctoral award. There is evidence in Australia for the emergence of what has been called a second generation of Professional Doctorates. In this paper the features of the latter are analysed using three case studies. Research into an EdD and its subsequent development from a first to second generation program are also presented. The key conceptualisation used for the analysis and development is Lee, Green and Brennan (2000).

New Variant PhD: The changing nature of the doctorate in the UK

“…Maxwell (2003) traces the evolution from first to second generation professional doctorate, and Bourner, Bowden and Laing (2001) identified 20 distinctive features common to professional doctorates in English universities. Pearson (1996) sees the professional doctorate ''as a form of professional education in which students are introduced to the professional practice of research and scholarship, with the supervisor responsible for assisting students to become independent practitioners''.…”

Evaluation of the current status and knowledge contributions of professional doctorates

“…Maxwell (2003) demonstrated how PDs have developed to become more involved with professional knowledge. Bourner et al (2001), in a survey of English universities identified twenty distinctive features of PDs and called for more research on these distinguishing features.…”

“…In categorising the development of PDs, discipline-specific PDs such as the EdD and DBA have been identified by Maxwell (2003) as 'second-generation' and have moved away from some of the assumptions about academic research traditionally associated with the PhD. Maxwell (2003) demonstrated how PDs have developed to become more involved with professional knowledge.…”

“…There is a literature on pedagogy in this area (Bourner et al 2001, Maxwell, 2003, Stephenson et al 2006) that is contained and specific. The above factors may be leading to a changing role for universities that requires them to engage more closely with communities outside academe.…”

The Professional Doctorate for the Engineering & Technology Profession

“…Apparently consistent with Berkeley, or perhaps vice versa, Maxwell 4 noted that professional doctorates in Western Europe are such that "scientists not only acquire specialised knowledge through their research but apply that knowledge in political, economic, social and cultural contexts" (p.279).…”