Hello, I could use some advice on selecting a Doctoral program. I'm considering a Ph.D from Walden in Organizational Psychology or an Ed.D from Pepperdine in Organizational behavior and change. My goal upon completion is to obtain a faculty position. I'd like some comments on which would be more useful and why. Thanks -Peter
If obtaining a faculty position is your goal, Pepperdine may be the better alternative since it is a traditional B&M school. Cyber- doctoral degrees are slowly becoming accepted; however, your chances of landing a faculty job are increased with a doctoral degree from a traditional university. Cy
I am familiar with both programs. A colleague of mine teaches for Walden and three other colleagues graduated from Pepperdine. Walden currently awards more doctorates than any other totally DL program and is generally pretty well regarded. However, Pepperdine is a highly regarded university with an excellent reputation. Pepperdine is much more well known than Walden and would definately be a better choice for someone planning to teach at the university level. The PhD versus EdD is not really an issue. All of the major comparison studies have shown that the two degrees are equivalent. Tony Pina Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino
What Tony said. Both are excellent. The Pepperdine Ed.D. is likely more utile. No difference between Ed.D. and Ph.D.
If you are looking for a DL doctorate I do not think Pepperdine offers one. They do have a great program that meets once per month at a university center or corporation. This info is based on their program two years ago.
Pepperdine's doctorates in educational leadership and educational technology are about 40% online and 60% face-to-face in cluster groups at several locations. The organizational leadership and organization change doctorates appear to be resident-based programs. Tony Pina Faculty, Cal State U. San Bnerardino
If you're seeking a faculty position, I'll add my voice to those favoring Pepperdine. Walden is a good school, but a faculty search committee would certainly favor a Pepperdine degree over Walden.
.02 Everyone has heard of Pepperdine, but I had never heard of Walden until I came to DegreeInfo.com. Having said that, I do not want to minimize Walden's doctoral program. I merely want to point out that Pepperdine clearly has a nationwide "name recoginition" factor that cannot be discounted, particularly if you want a faculty position.
Thank you all for your helpful and informative comments. FYI, the Pepperdine Ed.D in Org Change meets 4 times yearly in 8-day blocks for 3 years. Year's 4&5 are for dissertation. The program is expensive > $100K Thanks again
You asked about Wladen vs. Pepperdine, you did not mention the cost aspect. There are other options that are comparable, that may have better name recognition then Wladen at lower cost then Pepperdine. Saybrook, Feilding, Regent, Nova Southeastern, and Union for a few.
Baaah Mike just stole my thunder - I was going to say that Fielding and Saybrook have good reputations in higher learning (I work as an adjunct professor). I have seen PhDs from both colleges on faculty - in the psych arena. As far as the difference between the PhD and the Ed, it is my humble opinion that the PhD sits better for academia due to the appearence of a scholarly degree - at least from my limited experiences. Great luck!! peACE, ACE
Although this is a popular sentiment, in practice, there really is no significant difference between the PhD and EdD in education circles. There are plenty of faculty with EdDs (just look at any college of education). Harvard and Columbia are two universities among many that only offer EdDs in education. With few exceptions, EdD programs have the same research requirements as PhDs in education. I possess copies of nearly all of the studies done in this area during the past few decades and they are consistent in this area. All of the institutions mentioned thus far in this thread are private universities and will be expensive. Pepperdine is the most expensive of the lot, but is also the most recognized. If cost is a major factor, have you considered a public (state) university? It would be much less expensive. Tony Pina Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino
Well said Tony, I agree whole-heartedly. I am just speaking on my limited experience sitting on "open faculty search panels" and hearing my collegues' questions posed. I often hear "learned" people ask "do you even need a dissertation for an EdD?" Unsettling - YES - surprising - no . They falsely believe the EdD version is more of a clinical study/lit search more than a dissertation process. In my field of psychology - I can report (in least NY State) that there is a clear preference of PhD over a EdD. If one is to browse through many of the local psych departments you see a lot of PhDs and VERY few EdDs (some of it has to do with the sheer amount of PhDs vs EdDs granted). For example, at the University of Rochester Brain and Cognitive Science division 100% are PhD - there is a 100% PhD holders in their clinical department there as well. Moreover, most of the EdDs primary teach in the school pysch arena (where it is much more accepted). To this end, I agree with the "workload" of each degree but disent (slightly) on the utility in academia. Finally, I consulted a good friend of mine who is a psych professor at Cornell. He informed me that they look mostly for PhDs with a clinical bent to them when filling faculty positions (adjunct as well). In the immortal words of Yoda "Well ramble on I am ----" peACE. ACE
Hi Tony, Sure, cost is always a consideration, however not the deciding factor in my case. The Pepperdine program is attractive for me for a couple of reasons: 1) I am an alum of GSBM ( Graziadio School of Business and Management) at Pepperdine , and I enjoyed the school and faculty very much. 2) As a fulltime manager at eBay, my time is very limited ( as is everyone's) and the structure of this program (12 / 8 day sessions over 3 years) fits into my schedule nicely. The other issue for me is, Walden will cost approx. $40K Vs Pepperdine at ~$100K. However, if the prejudice of DL will disqualify me or limit my options, then in actuality Walden is far more expensive the Pepperdine. As far as State schools, do you have any suggestions ? Thanks again
First, regarding PhD and EdD, most psychology programs offer PhD or PsyD. They have not offered EdD in a long time. However, regarding leadership or arganizational studies, there are several EdD anD PhD programs. They are essentially equal. Regarding Peperdine or Walden, for a $60,000 difference you might be suprised at the value of a Walden degree. If you do any kind of review, you will see there all Walden grads in many programs across the country, both in teaching positions and leadership positions. Other questions to ask are where do you want to teach and what level do you want to teach? You might discover you would never make up the expense of the tuition difference and salary. Another way to enhance your application status is to publish, present, and become active in professional associations. With those addtions, the Walden degree might meet your needs. Regarding state institutions, I did my EdD at Oklahoma State for around $10,000. I currently hold one of the top positions in the country in my profession. I was able to do weekend and evening classes.
I had the opporunity to be in both a PhD program (at a large state university) and an EdD program (in a small private university). Both required courses in beginning and intermediate statistics analysis; both required coursework in quantitative and qualitative research design; both required a comprehensive examination and both required a research dissertation. The EdD required slightly more units of post masters course work than the PhD. The major study in this area, comparing over 300 colleges of education found that my situation is the norm, rather than the exception. All of the research comparing the PhD versus the EdD have been done in the areas of education or school counseling. One interesting study comared over 1,000 dissertations and found no difference in rigour between PhD and EdD. Frankly, I would be surprised to see many doctor of education degrees offered in psychology, especially those with a clinical bent. Educational psychology and school psychology (not always the same thing) are exceptions and they tend to be found in colleges of education, rather than in departments of psychology. It has been my experience that clinical psychologists tend to look down upon their school psych counterparts, so it is not surprising that they would see an EdD as lower than a PhD, since the EdD would most likely be in school psych or counseling. An EdD in organizational change or organizational behavior likely springs from the study of diffusion of innovations and change (which has much of its roots in education, even though it probably belongs in business and mangement). Thus endeth my ramble. Tony Pina Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino
