The Business Professional Doctorate as an Informing Channel: A Survey and Analysis

Abstract

Although growing in popularity in other countries, the business professional doctorate has yet to gain traction in the U.S. Such programs, intended to offer advanced disciplinary and research training to individuals who later plan to apply that training to employment in industry, are frequently seen to be inferior to their academically-focused Ph.D. program counterparts. Furthermore, if the sole purpose of a doctorate is to develop individuals focused on producing scholarly research articles, that assessment may well be correct. We argue, however, that such a narrowly focused view of the purpose of doctoral programs is self-defeating; by exclusively focusing on scholarly research and writings, we virtually guarantee that our research will never make it into practice. The paper begins by identifying a variety of types of doctoral programs that exist globally and placing these in a conceptual framework. We then present a detailed case study of the information systems (IS) doctoral programs offered in Osnabrueck, Germany-where as many as 90% of candidates choose careers in industry in preference to academia. Finally, we proposesupported using both conceptual arguments drawn from the study of complex informing and observed examples-that the greatest benefit of business professional doctorates may be the creation of enduring informing channels between practice and industry. Presented in this light, the business professional doctorate should be viewed as an essential part of the broader research ecology, rather than as a weak substitute for the disciplinary Ph.D.

Motivations for Pursuing an Engineering PhD and Perceptions of its Added Value: A U.S.-based Study

“…This factor fits within two of the five broad motivational categories identified by Churchill and Sanders (2007) in their Guide to Getting a PhD: A Practical Insider's Guide -career development and lack of current job satisfaction. For the study focused on what motivates business processionals to pursue a PhD (Gill & Hoppe, 2009), motivational factors related to career development accounted for four out of five of the factors that were cited in the research findings. The participants in this study pursued their PhD with the objectives for pursuit of an academic career, for professional development, for professional advancement, or for entry into a new career.…”

“…However, such insights are usually not specific to a particular discipline. On the other hand, several researchers have examined motivations for pursuing doctoral training in the social sciences, education, business, and other science fields (Gill & Hoppe, 2009;Leonard et al, 2005;Salmon, 1992). Within the context of engineering, there have been a few studies on engineers' intentions to pursue engineering PhDs and reasons for returning to graduate school after finishing a bachelor's degree in engineering and working for at least five years (Peters & Daly, 2013).…”

“…While research on graduate education, persistence, attrition, skills, competencies and career trajectories of successful engineering PhD holders provides valuable insights for graduate engineering educators and aspiring PhD students, it is equally important to explore, beyond anecdotal observations, what motivates individu-als to start the journey to an engineering PhD. To date, little is known about the entering phase of the PhD process (Brailsford, 2010;Gill & Hoppe, 2009;Leonard, Becker, & Coate, 2005).…”

“…The topic of initial motivations has been explored in disciplines other than engineering, some of which include history (Brailsford, 2010), education (Leonard et al, 2005), and business (Gill & Hoppe, 2009). One of the few studies specific to science and engineering is the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates report (2012a), which includes factors that influence the path to a doctorate in science or engineering.…”

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.): A Viable Credential for Faculty in Programmatically Accredited Business Degree Programs?

“…While a number of studies from the U. K. and Australia have investigated the impact of "professional doctorates" (including the D.B.A. ), comparatively little such research has been conducted among U.S. higher education institutions (Erwee, 2004;Fink, 2006;Gill & Hoppe, 2009). …”