Hello I'm new to this forum, and I am considering a Henley DBA, with the intention of entering Academia when complete. My question is, will having a degree from a non-US school prevent me from teaching in a US university? My MBA is from a traditional US school. Thanks PFM
The answer to this question is two part: 1). Most university business positions require that one have a doctorate from an AACSB school. A DBA may not be quite as high up in the academic world as a PhD, but would nonetheless still qualify you for many B-school positions, which require a business "doctorate" in most cases, not distinguishing between PhD and DBA. HMC's DBA program fits the bill of being an AACSB doctorate, so you're technically going to be qualified. However... 2). There's still the issue of the prestige of the degree to consider. a). UK degrees, even from a world-class school like Henley, may not be as recognizable as a U.S. degree. It's astonishing, but U.S. B-school hiring committees are sometimes quite ignorant of anything beyond our borders other than Oxford, Cambridge, LBS and INSEAD. While Henley ranks ahead of most of those luminaries, it's not as well-recognized here in the states. That's going to be an issue, no way around it. b). I assume you're looking at Henley's flexible DL DBA. The DL aspect will also be an issue, as most administrators and faculty--the ones on the committees--are not so open-minded as Degreeinfo's own Tony Pina with regard to distance education for research degrees, and some are even snobbish about DL professional degrees; I'm sure there are faculty members who sneer even at Duke, Purdue and Indiana--great MBA programs though they are--for "stooping" to offer a DL degree to those who actually (snicker) work for a living! Now even with the above said, all is not lost. I've read enough on this Forum and elsewhere, talked to enough people, and seen enough examples of faculty members with DL doctorates to know that the handicaps above can be overcome. The best way is to produce quality scholarship and publish in respectable journals--that will open doors for anyone, and as near as I can tell is as close as it gets to a magic bullet. You also should be prepared to explain yourself well once you get to the interview stage. Something along the lines of: "Yes, I know that Henley is UK and that the degree was obtained via distance (of course, you won't be able to hide this if you're working in the U.S. while pursuing the degree), but we did have a number of residencies; Henley is fully-AACSB; I worked with Dr. XYZ as my mentor, and I'm sure you've all read his/her work. And are you aware, by the way, that Henley is ranked 26th in the world by The Economist, ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, Indiana, Georgetown, UT-Austin, Notre Dame, Carnegie, North Carolina?" Might sound pretentious, but once you've slaved away and earned that degree, you'd have earned the right to educate the interviewers.
Best regards to you as well. If you want to teach in a business school, you might also look into the following DL business doctorate programs: UK/Western Europe: Aston - PhD or DBA (AACSB) Manchester - DBA (AACSB) Grenoble - DBA (AACSB) U.S.: Case Western Reserve - DM (Excecutive program) Nova Southeastern - DBA (non-AACSB) University of Maryland University College - DM (non-AACSB) Indiana State University - PhD in Technology Management
