DBA or Ed.D in Organizational Leadership

At the advice of my advisor, I am thinking of changing my major from Ed.D in Organizational Leadership (OL) to the DBA. I believe she suggested this because I am not really interested in a career in academia. I checked the course requirement for Argosy's DBA against the course requirement for Argosy's Ed.D in OL and the difficulty level is the same. In fact, the OL has more Qual and Quant classes than the DBA, which I like. Nevertheless, I am still unsettled and haven't fully decided, so I wanted to come here and ask my friends what they thought about her suggestions. Does the DBA carry as much weight as the DBA? For those of you that are working towards your DBA - why did you chose that as an option over the Ed.D in OL. If you had to chose between the two what would you choice be and why? BTW - I am enjoying Argosy University. Thanks to those who led me in the right direction.

Thanks as usual.

 

LadyExecutive

I am actually in the Argosy University/Phx DBA program and I chose it over the EDD for a variety of reasons but the biggest two were 1. I wanted to be able to show application of my degree beyond academia and 2. I did not want to engage in overlap courses from the EDD k-12 crowd. No offense to those but their focus is not of total scholarly ability but kind of lower based on the interactions with that type of student. Just my view no offense please.

I must say I to am enjoying the Argosy DBA and just FYI in the Pheonx campus there are several EDD'ers jumping into the DBA for issues mentioned above.

Richard

 

Hi Shay,

I suppose you should choose the program that best prepares you for the research you want to conduct, if you don't plan to teach full time. Moreover, your doctoral chairperson and committee will be different for the two programs. I'm guessing that the Ed.D. is more theoretical and the DBA will be more practitioner-focused. The programs will diverge radically at the end.

As for earning a doctorate, the process is really about learning how to become an assistant professor (i.e., scientist and teacher), so without wanting to teach full time, one lacks the central motivation to sustain you throughout a difficult, protracted doctoral process. Would another masters degree with a thesis be more useful and doable, but just as interesting? A thought.

Does that help? Hope so.

Dave

 

A DBA and Ed.D. are very different programs. Even with a degree in OL, the Ed.D. is different. The DBA is much more "business and industry" focused and the Ed.D. is more education focused which does have a mix of the K-12 crowd. I was in the same situation as you but I ultimately choose the Ed.D. in OL over the DBA for the same reason I choose a general Masters in Administration over an MBA. My focus is not on accounting and finance but more on "process, policy, and leadership".

You have to look at your end goal and what you really want out of a program.

Duff

BSBA-Mount Olive College
MSA-Central Michigan University
Ed.D.-Nova Southeastern University

 

Thanks gentlemen for your input. After taking what you and my professor said to heart, I have decided to go ahead and switch over to the DBA. In my opinion, the Argosy DBA does not include all the mathematical (numbers) content as the EdD in OL. I tend to shy away from anything other than money of course that has to do with numbers. These are not the only reason though. I really do not envision myself teaching for a living. I just want to continue doing as I am, working in my own consulting firm (hopefully I can grow it to where I can make some money from it, LOL).

Dave: You do make excellent points, as usual and I highly respect your opinions. My answer to your question may be simple and trivial to some, nevertheless, I am being truthful when I say that two masters might do except I really want my doctorate degree...

 

Understood. Just trying to give you the full spectrum of opinion from which to choose.

Dave

 

Hello all. Sorry to change the subject a little bit. I was recently accepted into the Ed.D at Argosy myself however I was also accepted into the Ph.D program at NCU as well. Tough decision. NCU has a lot of pros like cost, time etc. But wondering if Argosy will give me the academic credibility to teach one day. Argosy has a local campus in Hawaii where I reside and its a combination of traditional learning with some online classes.

 

What other programs did you look at? I recommend that you avoid open enrollment doctoral programs (i.e., doctoral fantasy camps), because those programs are choked with both gifted and not-so-gifted students.

Dave

 

Well Argosy and NCU were the only ones so far. I was denied admission to a doctorate program at my local university. Kind of limited in terms of educational options. Sorry but what do you mean by open enrollment courses? Are you referring to NCU's policy on year round enrollment?

 

Dave Wagner, why do you think that UoP is a doctoral fantasy camp?

 

I mean that for-profit "doctoral fantasy camps" admit students regardless of their requisite ability or motivation to complete the program. Full-time teaching is a primary motivation. Conducting research to publish is a secondary motivation. Still, students with a masters degree and the ability to obtain student loans are admitted to for-profit "doctoral fantasy camps" and milked dry until they realize that they have neither the motivation nor ability to become scientists (or the school has no ability to train them for a meaningful career). Avoid the for-profit "doctoral fantasy camps", which exist to build profits, not scientists.

Dave

 

Dave

I was admitted to some very nice Brick and Mortar schools but I ended up choosing Argosy, as I could not stop working to complete my degree, and distance learning was just not my cup of tea.

Argosy is a research school but with it limited focus to a few areas (Business, Education, Psychology), in my view, really enhances the educational setting.

I do not know of how many US schools include areas of multiculturalism and sustainability as a core integration component of its coursework, as Argosy does, with its Business Program. I can state that in Arizona where I reside, Argosy is the only school that includes both these perspectives.

Richard

 

Continually pointing out problems, but unable or unwilling to offer solutions?

Dave Wagner, there might be some substance to your assertions. However, what is ironic is that you never offer solutions to esoteric doctoral issues that you perceive as being problematic, despite repeated requests to do so. Specifically, what requisites do you suggest? Pray tell?

 

So you are in a limited-residency doctoral program at Argosy? If so, I'm curious about what is residency is required. Is this cohort-based? Thanks.

Dave

 

Dave

The DBA is not a limited residency, but full residency, and is not a cohort based program. Argosy does have a limited residency "online" program but I chose Argosy for the option of fulltime resdency.

Richard

 

Thanks for the clarification. The Argosy program that sparked my interest is residential base with only a few online courses. The majority of work is completed here in Hawaii where I reside. Traditional educational institutions are limited where I live and I wanted a doctorate that is a little more accepted in the business and academic community.

 

Not to bash Dave or slight his opinion, but take his advice and the advice of the rest of us here on DI with a grain of salt.

For example, Dave seems to have chronic disdain for any for profit doctoral program based upon the assumption that a for profit doctoral program is more concerned with fleecing cash off of students than actually turning out qualified doctors. (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this Dave I'm attempting to paraphrase your previous posts).

Whereas others do not see any evidence of that type of behavior and find this hard to believe. I personally believe that this idea is akin to that of a conspiracy theory. So take the program that is right for you.

Not to attempt to hijack the thread.

 

Not is but could be. Moreover, the Ph.D. student participant could not know the difference.

Note the rejection of the veracity of the fictitious for-profit open-enrollment doctoral scenario is a normal cognitive, affective, and conative response to cognitive dissonance. It seems so difficult to accept and refute that the reader is tempted either to mischaracterize it as a conspiracy theory or alter the meaning of the person who proposed the scenario. No worries; everybody is behaving normally.

Dave

 

But you would? Dave Wagner, you only have an MBA, which is extremely respectable, but it may not qualify you to have such concrete opinions about doctoral students.

While your assertions may have veracity, it is nonetheless perplexing that you have refused, thus far, to provide entry-level standards for for-profit doctoral programs.

 

Which island? Curious. What is your area of research interest in education? If it is leadership, then Touro is another online possibility. Since you are able to do the on-campus modality, does Nova Southeastern have a cohort near you? I ask because there are lots of Nova grads out there teaching in higher education and you might get more opportunity by going through Nova.

Dave