Is there a GPA for a British PhD?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by kibletti, Jun 4, 2009.

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  1. kibletti

    kibletti New Member

    I am asked for credit hours and GPA for my British PhD when applying for certain jobs in the USA. As the PhD is done by research only, no classes is there a common GPA used by evaluation agencies?
     
  2. That's an interesting question. I am in Australia and we use the same research only system for Ph.D s as the British do. I have never heard of any grading system for those degrees- you either get the degree or you don't. There is a grading for bachelors with honours (fail to first class honours) but I don't think that it applies beyond that. The only exception I knew of was the Master of Letters which was graded like honours.
     
  3. Woho

    Woho New Member

    I never knew about this. Really? There is no grading in British PhDs? No "magna cum laude" or "with distinction" etc? Makes me want to go for one even more ;)
     
  4. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I did not get a GPA for my British Masters, but when the transcript was evaluated, WES "estimated" one. You might want to have your PhD evaluated and see what they come up with.
     
  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

  6. Go_Fishy

    Go_Fishy New Member

    Just because there is no GPA, this doesn't necessarily mean there is no grade. I'm not sure about GB, but in Germany, grades of a section of a given program are only important until you reach the next higher level. Good grades qualify you for undergrad and graduate exams, after that only the grade of the exams count. Same for the dissertation: you get a grade for your research and defense, and of course the honors (rite - cum laude - magna cum laude - summa cum laude), but no one will ever know or care what grades you had in your coursework.
     
  7. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    Why is there a need for a grade? A research degree is intended to be marked against a criteria of making an original contribution to the field studied. It would seem to me that either you do or you don't.

    Employers should be more interested in the contributions that have been made in the workplace, than a meaningless PHD GPA . Master's degree by coursework is generally more relevant to there. PHDS are university research qualifications in most countries, although there now appears professional doctorates which are designed for the workplace. A good question is why are they needed? Are universities merely expanding their businesses by promoting a degree seemingly for status reasons?

    I wonder how long before we have a higher,higher doctorate!
     
  8. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Australian and British PhDs can be a problem for teaching in the US and Canada. Most schools require you to have at least 18 graduate credits in the teaching field. As most British and Australian PhDs do not require course work nor require a course based master's, you might end with a PhD qualification with no courses. To make matters worst, some schools require a transcript for a teaching application and some British schools do not supply transcripts for PhDs or Master's.

    In any case, if your prospect employer insists on a GPA for a research PhD, the best you can do is to contact WES services and request a course by course equivalence for the PhD. As you don't have any course work for your PhD, they might just give a GPA equivalency based on all the course work you did before that or have a standard GPA for British PhDs. WES is in the business of translating foreign credentials in American terms. My suggestion is to contact them and see what they can do for you in this case.
     
  9. Interesting comments. I could see this being a particular problem for people who have gone straight from the bachelors with honours into the Ph. D. According to what I have read, this is now much more common than doing a research masters between them.
     
  10. kibletti

    kibletti New Member

    There is no course work or levels for a British PhD

    there is no course work or levels for a PhD - it is purely research.
     
  11. kibletti

    kibletti New Member

    the require GPA

    I think this is a formality.
     
  12. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Many of the adjunct adds I have read also say "or equivalent." I really doubt if this would be a big discriminator.
     
  13. 7-Up

    7-Up New Member

    As an American who has a British PhD and 10 years of teaching experience I can tell you that not having academic transcripts has cost me a lot of good jobs. British PhD are earned through research only. However, to teach in the USA, especially at the graduate level, say, in psychology, the college will likely not hire you if they can't see what specific psychology courses you have taken at the graduate level. Also, many of the state accrediation agencies require transcripts to be in an employee's file upon inspection.
     
  14. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    We have heard some similar stories from other PhD grads from British, Australian and South African universities. You just register for the same course over and over and over. It's usually something like Psych 950. Or Economics 930, etc. This means, effectively, that there are no useful transcripts and if you're looking for those 18 credits that allow you to teach at the college level you may not be able to make your case (depending on the person who puts the check mark in the box).
     
  15. 7-Up

    7-Up New Member

    Actually, at the end of the 4 years of study/research and after the oral defense of the dissertation, the British PhD is either a Pass or Fail.
     
  16. foobar

    foobar Member

    The SACS accreditation requirement is a "doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline)"

    http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/081705/faculty%20credentials.pdf

    I read this as a degree in a particular discipline meets SACS guidelines to teach without having to count 18 hours in the discipline. The eighteen graduate hours refers to the size of the "concentration in the teaching discipline."

    This becomes more clear when you read the requirements in "f." of the document for a graduate teaching assistant:

    "Graduate teaching assistants: master’s in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline . . ."
     
  17. 7-Up

    7-Up New Member

    Well, I have 12 years of teaching experience in the USA at various colleges/universities but these assistant professorship positions (the hiring) were really based on my master's degree from a US university and not actually my PhD. When it comes to teaching graduate classes showing proof that you have taken courses within the field that you intend to be teaching in is imperative; that is why not having PhD transcripts hurts one's chances.
     
  18. 7-Up

    7-Up New Member

    So, you're saying the SACS guidelines below means that only proof of a terminal degree is required in the teaching discipline, say, psychology, and specific courses from that discipline on a transcript is not required for evaluation? Thanks,

    Faculty teaching baccalaureate courses: doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

    e. Faculty teaching graduate and post-baccalaureate course work: earned doctorate/terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.
     

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