How well would an Australian doctorate be accepted in the US

I was looking at a very interesting doctorate program that is based in Australia. It offers an attractive DL business doctorate and is well accredited. I'm not actually considering jumping ship on my current program, but it did make me curious as to how well a doctorate from an accredited Australian B&M would be accepted by US academia. Anyone have insight on this?

Please note: I was accused by someone of "hand wringing" over my current program because of all the questions I post. That's not the case. I'm just curious. We have such a wonderful collection of minds here on this board that I love learning about the academic world from all of you fine people.

 

I'd guess it would be comparable to the acceptance of a Scottish advanced degree in the US. For Heriot-Watt, where we kept very accurate records, the acceptance in the US (in terms of employers paying for it and other schools recognizing it) for the first thousand students was 99%+ and the tiny handful who didn't either had some government contract requiring US degrees, or had one renegade HR person, and when that person left (and I'm talking about you, Ingersoll Rand), the policy was reversed.

 

In addition to John's extensive experience, let me add an opinion. Don't forget the "sex appeal" factor. Having done a degree at an overseas school can be an eye-catcher and conversation piece with an employer. And getting an employer to talk about YOU is a good thing, IMHO.

BTW, I don't have any experience in this....

 

Which Australian university? Accepted by US academia as being what, for what purpose?

I think that Americans, academic and otherwise, perceive Australian universities as being the equal of our own domestic ones. But that doesn't imply that a degree from any Australian (or American for that matter) university will automatically get you hired as a university professor. Nor does it mean that a remote DL program will give you all of the advantages and won't leave you dangling as an isolated lone-ranger. Hiring committees will likely pay attention to the reputation of the program in the subject to be taught, to recommendations and to the applicant's cv (publications, presentations, teaching experience etc.) They might want to see suitable responsible experience in the subject to be taught. A lot will likely depend on the nature of the teaching position, and on how competitive the hiring is.

One potential problem with the British-style "research" doctorate model is that you will be beginning at the dissertation phase of your doctoral work. Are you advanced enough in your graduate studies to handle that? (Especially at a distance, without faculty hand-holding or communication with peers who have been in the same position?) Do you have a dissertation proposal? In some cases, British-style universities will want you to already have a dissertation advisor before they even agree to admit you. Is your masters level preparation strong enough to convince an American academic employer that you are prepared to teach a broad spectrum of classes from across the undergraduate syllabus and not just your dissertation topic?

 

John, Rich and Bill. I knew I would get the good stuff from you guys! Thank you for the great insight.

 

It's University of Newcastle. It appears to be AIM accredited, what is that? I originally stated that it was well accredited but, come to think of it, that was just an assumption on my part. I really don't know anything about overseas universities. Just curious, thanks.

 

I have an Australian Doctorate and have used it to teach as an adjunct in the US. I applied once for a tenure track position in the US but I was informed that the doctorate needed to be AACSB accredited.

If you are going to follow the Australian doctorate, you should make sure that it comes from an AACSB accredited school. As far as I know, QUT is the only school that offers an external (DL) doctorate that is AACSB accredited and it costs a small fortune for non Australian residents.

 

University of Newscastle is non AACSB accredited. Its acceptability would be about the same as any American school that is RA accredited but non AACSB Accredited. I would put it above NCU but below a school like Colorado State. It is something in between.

 

AIM is the Australian Institute of Management.

 

Is AIM the legit accreditation in your country?

 

What factor would make it rank above NCU? Not that it matters; just curious.

 

Possible factor/s some [might] consider Newcastle a step above NCU, in that it’s a B&M university, with a 40-plus year history track with a 30,000 plus student enrollment (?). Certainly not proposed as a qualifying reason, it’s not, but merely conjecture …

 

Ah, OK, that would qualify for it to rank higher in my books too.

 

This is in terms of credibility, I would rank any school as follows:

1. AACSB accredited from a top tier school (e.g. Harvard)
2. AACSB accredited from a lower tier school (e.g. Colorado State)
3. RA or foreign equivalent school with a B&M campus and full time faculty conducting research but without AACSB accreditation (e.g. Newcastle)
4. Virtual schools that rely mainly on adjuncts and with little research contribution (e.g. NCU)

There are some foreign schools that don't have AACSB accreditation and still would be considered excellent like McGill University but the general rule is AACSB accreditation as differentiation factor. Of course, this is for business doctorates so Education, Engineering, etc won't care about this.

 

Ah, I get it. That sort of makes NCU the lowest of the legitimate universities then? I am going to work assiduously to have my dissertation published. I have a fairly original premise and I plan to use the company that I founded as part of the research. Being published, if I succeed, should add some credibility to my degree, shouldn't it?

 

Great point! I'm glad to hear that there is someone who doesn't consider "adjunct" a four letter word!

 

AIM is not really an accreditor like in the US. It is a very large national professional association for managers. It has centers in capital cities with library facilities, professional journal etc. It conducts its own training for managers as well.

Generally speaking, the university system works a little different here. There is very tight government control over quality and universities have an accreditation to meet, but it is governmentally controlled. I am told that even use of the word, "university", without government approval, is a criminal offense. It is taken very seriously.

Pacific Western University, for example, set up in Norfolk Island with local consent. The island is an Australian Protectorate. The federal government legislated to oust the university. The university left.

Sometimes universities may link to business associations for marketing reasons, but these agencies endorse the university in a similar manner to endorsement of a product. They are not accreditors.

If the university is seeking US students then. like USQ, it might seek US accreditation. The university degree is generally accepted here as meeting requirements of business or other industry field. You won't, for example, get a JD degree here that the Australian Bar will not accept.

On another issue, if you are worried about where your university sits in the pecking order, why not seek to publish articles,based upon aspects of your dissertation, in peer reviewed journals? After a number of published articles, who can then seriously challenge your professional knowledge? Different reviewers from the industry or academia, have recognised your articles as making a contribution to the professional field. Just some thoughts

 

Very good reply, thank you. I do hope to have my dissertation published. I have a very good opportunity to do primary research using the small company that I founded. Hopefully, if I'm up to the task, I will do just what you suggest.

Also, I rather like the tighter governmental control over the Australian university system that you speak of. There would be much less trouble with degree mills and other shoddy educational institutions if the US had a similar policy.

Thanks for your insight. I hope I can visit your beautiful country someday and maybe go for a surf!