Help Me - I'm so confused (PhD or DBA)

As I wrap up my stats class and get ready for comps after the new year, I am faced the last chance to decide - PhD or DBA. The "no oral defense" sounds inviting.

I would like to spin my degree into an online teaching opportunity and do not have grand dreams of teaching graduate business classes at UF with an NCU PhD/DBA.

I just want to make some extra money (50K) teaching online have have more to choose from. In the professional world, it will not matter either way - I am already seen as an "education freak".

So, PhD or DBA?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The Ph.D. program requires original research intended to establish a learner's research competence. Although a Ph.D. dissertation is required to produce an original contribution to the body of knowledge in Business Administration, it is not required to have a practical application. An oral defense of the Ph.D. dissertation is required.

The D.B.A. program emphasizes the application and communication of research as the basis for sound business decisions and requires a dissertation. The dissertation is required to address a practical problem of an organization and as such is not required to constitute an original contribution to the body of knowledge in Business Administration. An oral defense of the D.B.A. dissertation is not required.
source:http://www.ncu.edu/academics/graduate/choose_dba-phd.aspx

 

Also, any reasoning would be great on your choices. Thanks, this is a big decision and I want to make the right one. The more opinions I have may help me to see things from different angles.

 

Is Smickety Drickety hiring??? Thanks-

 

For universal name recognition, I recommend a PhD.

 

DBA for adjunct work

From one "education freak" to another - having faced the same decision, my vote is for the DBA. If you want to adjunct and not make academia your primary source of income, the DBA will provide you more utility professionally IMO.

50K is very do-able as an adjunct. The key IMO is to specialize in a field with a high demand - in my case public administration and emergency management. In a field with a lot of Doctorates the competition is going to be greater and schools can afford to be a little more selective with credentials.

I teach for four online schools and in every interview I was told that the applied degree (DBA/DPA) was a very attractive credential in the online environment as many of these schools cater to the non-traditional student. The non-traditional student wants not only the theoretical perspective, but they want to see how it is applied through the experience of a practitioner.

This was a common discussion topic when I was at NCU. In the end, I think those with non-traditional doctorates will face far more challenges in establishing the legitimacy of the school they went to rather than the degree they hold (DBA or PhD).

 

I'd say the PhD has more name recognition.

 

Database administrators make way more than 50K!

 

I was at an executive development training program and had a conversation with the president of our company and a board member. In the conversation I proudly announced my pursuit of a PhD, to which both laughed and said, in stereo “pile high dummy”.

I’m currently researching the dissertation for my DBA.

I believe the moral is, outside of academia, the applied professional degree’s have much more utility.

 

I'm sure your President and board member are both without their PhD's.

- Tom

 

• If I had to hire between a PhD and a DBA for a job in the real world (outside of academia), then I'd hire the DBA.
  .
• If I had to hire between a PhD and a DBA for an adjunct job, I'd lean towards the DBA.
  .
• If I had to hire between a PhD and a DBA for a tenured position as a researcher at a major university, then I'd look at the qualifications of both to determine who should get the job, though I might lean towards the PhD.

 

Hey Randell,

I voted DBA since it looks like you are leaning that way and from what you said you don't need the hassel of the PhD. Not that the DBA would be "easy" but it would be less research intensive and probably meet your needs. I think you are like me in that you don't "need" a doctorate for your work, but you would like the greater opportunities (and in my case respect) that it affords. I don't think too many in the business world will care if you have a PhD or DBA - more impressed with what you know and what you have done (the resume speaks louder than the degree).

I know the easiest thing would be to go for the 'get a life' option and that certainly has its appeal, so just ask yourself if you will be happy if you stop now. If yes, no problem...take a break; you can always come back to it later if you change your mind (with some rust induced difficulty). I dropped out of a PhD program in 1991 and started my current one just this spring, so it can be done.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Matt

 

Hey Steve - what is the mascot at SDCC? I'm thinking they might be the Fighting Crickets...

 

50K? I've been teaching online for the last 5 years and don't make close to that sum. Most online schools pay you about 2K per course and if you already work full time, you might be able to teach at the most two classes. Most online schools run 5 terms a year so at the most you can teach 10 classes at 2K you are looking at 20K. For 50K you would need to teach about 5 classes per term.

In addition, 2K per class is considered a good salary if you consider schools like UoP that pay even less than that.

Some people claim that they can teach 10 classes per term but the reality is that you cannot really give quality education if you are a teaching machine. Also you have to keep high scores on your teaching evaluations and I don't see how you can be a teaching machine and score high on your evaluations.

As for the DBA vs PhD, I would select the degree that best fits your schedule and interests. The reality that the degree name is not so important as the name of the school. If the degree is going to come from the same school it doesn't really matter. The applied research dissertation might be more enjoyable than the theoretical one.

 

Randell,

I noticed you are in IT. Have you explored other options as the Microsoft Certified trainer certification?

If making extra cash as a trainer and teacher is your goal, it might be more cost effective to look at some industry trainer certifications. I realized this too late for me as I was already done with the doctorate but an MCT can give far more gigs than a PhD from NCU. Microsoft trainers make about 500 dollars a day and you don't need a PhD not even a masters to become one.

Just a thought.

 

I have decided to get off the certification train. I have my MCSA in W2K and don't plan for an MCSE/MCSA in 2003. I considered the MCT when I was deep in the IT stuff but I just don't like it anymore!!!!!

 

Randell,

Makes and excellent point! I make my living as a network engineer. With the globalization of our labor force It doesn't make sense to chase certifications More companies aren't offering the finanical rewards that in years past that made it profitable. I believe in the long term a college degree even in IT will offer more ROI than any certification regardless if its Cisco, PMP ITIL or any MCSE certs

 

Really? How long before online schools start hiring PhDs from India for their online courses? as it is, half of my engineering professors were from India so I don't see why not hire them directly from there given the flexibility of online courses.

I don't agree much with the idea that you are safe because of a PhD. The reality is that online schools are making it easy for people outside the US to get graduate American education. If you have graduates with NCU PhDs in India, why hire US graduates if salaries are higher?

 

RFValve,

That scenario is already occurring within the labor markets, this trend has been particularly difficult in the IT industry. I concur having a PHD doesn’t make anyone immune from becoming a victim to outsourcing whether its academia, or IT. Given that we operate in a global market everyone is affected by the possibility of optimization.

 

Yes.
Yes.
Yes!

In the short and long runs, the degree designation won't matter much. But costs, content, delivery methods, quality of the institution, accreditation, and other factors do matter.

(Full disclosure: I'm involved with a well-known university offering a non-Ph.D. doctorate.)

There might be a few faculty situations where a DBA won't cut it, but if you do a nontraditional doctorate, you probably aren't going after that kind of low-paying job anyway. In the business world, IMHO, it doesn't matter.