Push to have DBA Recognised as Practitioner Degree

Interesting article in Financial Times (ft.com) about the DBA degree and the distinction between academic and practitioner doctoral degrees.

FT.com / Business school news - Push to have DBA recognised as practitioner degree

 

An interesting article. But what about PhD business degrees that are also "practitioner" degrees. Could this path lead to the elimiation of PhDs in business or to the replacement of DBAs by PhDs?

 

Will this be only DBA's from RA +
AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

Will DETC DBA be accepted?

 

The EDBA Council says that it is looking for programs with the following characteristics:

"public and private not-for-profit institutions of higher learning"
"Are taught by research active Faculty"
"Are residency based and involve significant component of direct student mentoring"
"Have a major cohort-based, lock step component"

AACSB is mentioned as a potential "strategic partner".

ACBSP, IACBE, and DETC are not.

 

I’m not sure I would use the terms “academic” and “practitioner” to differentiate between the two types of doctoral degrees. I would rather differentiate the two degrees by the nature of the dissertation research, for example “theory” or “applied”. Perhaps these practitioner degrees do not require a dissertation?

 

So online RA programs from for-profit schools have no room in this discussion.
In other words, programs taught by part-time adjuncts (in their pajamas-just kidding), those with no face-to-face component, or those not accredited by AACSB are not factored into this discussion at all.

 

Agreed.HBS grants a DBA, not a PhD. I'm sure these students have no trouble finding research positions in academia.

 

The distinction has nothing to do with the absence of a dissertation, because the EDBA Council is explicitly looking for programs that:

"Develop scholarly practitioners by focusing on engaged scholarship research into contemporary business and management problems"
"Require successful defense of a dissertation"

The distinction between "academic" and "practitioner" doctorates probably reflects the intended use of the DBA. Consider the difference between the MBA and the DBA:

- The MBA is most commonly perceived as a "practitioner" degree; it appeals to people who want to advance their careers in business. Turns out that this is a huge market. As a result, the MBA is the most popular graduate degree in the US, and probably the world. In 2007-08, US schools issued 155,637 master's degrees in business.

- But the DBA is more commonly perceived as an "academic" degree; it appeals to people who want to become business school professors. Turns out that this is a much smaller market. As a result, the DBA is far less popular than the MBA. In 2007-08, US schools issued only 2,084 doctoral degrees in business.

So approximately 75 "practitioner" MBAs are issued for every "academic" DBA. The EDBA Council may feel that the DBA could become much more popular if it could be marketed as a "practitioner" degree, like the MBA.

 

Many years ago, Dr. Hecht at Northcentral University made a distinction between their PhD (theoretical dissertation) and their DBA (applied dissertation). Please note that both degrees require the completion of a dissertation.

In another article (don't remember the source) an author suggested that the type of dissertation that the doctoral student chooses will determine whether he pursues a PhD or a DBA. A student may want the title "PhD," but if they choose to conduct applied research, then they will be awarded a DBA. And visa versa i.e. a student may want the title "DBA," but if they conduct theoretical research, then they will be awarded a PhD. The type of research that you choose will eventually determine what kind of degree you are awarded, whether you like it or not. If you want a PhD, then simply choose theoretical research for your dissertation!

I prefer applied research and am extremely happy with a DBA. I don't like theoretical research, but prefer applied applications because that's where the rubber meets the road -- on the ground, feet first, up and running -- and that's exactly where I want my credentials to be. Your mileage may vary.

 

My own research into the DBA vs. Ph.D. included reviewing the literature from the U.S. Dept. of Education, the six regional accrediting agencies, the three specialized accrediting agencies (AACSB, ACBSP and IACBE) and the curriculum from IACBE accredited schools that offered doctoral degrees. The results were: 1) the U.S. Dept. of Ed classifies the DBA as a research doctorate, equivalent to the Ph.D; 2) The regional accrediting agencies do not differentiate at all between the DBA and PhD; 3) All three specialized accrediting bodies (yes, even AACSB) declare those with DBA's to be "doctorally qualified" to teach, equal to the Ph.D. and their accreditation requirements for Ph.D. and DBA programs are identical. The analysis between the curriculum of the Ph.D. and DBA programs studied found no significant difference between the academic preparation of Ph.D. and DBA students.

There has been no study of which I am aware that analyzes the Ph.D. vs. DBA dissertations, but my research thus far into the Ed.D. vs. Ph.D. has not supported the the idea that one kind is "applied" while the other is not.

The other finding, which is relevant to the article linked to in this thread is that, while there does not appear to be much difference between the DBA and Ph.D. in the U.S., there are quite a few differences between the two degrees at universities outside the U.S., which is likely why the international community is leading this effort.

 

For 2007-08, business degrees represented 24.9 % of all master's degrees issued in the US. At the master's level, business was the second most popular field of study (after education).

But at the same time, business degrees represented only 3.3 % of all doctoral degrees issued in the US.

So there is a striking discrepancy here. In US academia, business programs are mighty giants at the master's level, but puny dwarfs at the doctoral level. There is obviously huge interest in business master's degrees -- but hardly any of those master's degree graduates go on to study at the doctoral level.

Why is that? I think it's because:

- Most people who pursue business degrees do so to advance their business careers
- The MBA is perceived as a vital asset in this regard
- But the DBA (or PhD in business) is perceived as an optional luxury for a business career: nice to have, perhaps, but hardly essential
- The DBA (or PhD in business) is only perceived as a necessity for those pursuing a career in academia.

I suspect that the EDBA Council would like to change those perceptions. They would probably argue that the DBA should be seen as a valuable asset for business practitioners (not just academics), and a natural progression from the MBA.

If they can convince even a small fraction of MBA graduates to see it this way, then their DBA enrollments could soar.

 

Note that the EDBA Council clearly prefers "DBA" to "PhD" (as their name suggests). This makes sense if they want to expand the market for business doctorates from academics to practitioners, because:

(1) the "PhD" name has obvious academic connotations, which is not helpful if you want to market it as a degree for practitioners
(3) the "DBA" name, on the other hand, leverages the "MBA" name, which is a very successful and well established "brand" for practitioners

 

Does your source for this information also have comparisons for non-business degrees - for example MS vs, PhD in gelogy or engineering?
I'm just wondering what the stats are for other disciplines.
Thanks.

 

The USDoE "Digest of Education Statistics" has lots of interesting tables with that kind of info

Per Table 289, there were 625,023 master's degrees issued in 2007-08, of which 31,789 were in engineering (or 5.1 %)
Per Table 292, there were 63,712 doctoral degrees issued in 2007-08, of which 8,112 were in engineering (or 12.7 %)

So business (with 155,637 master's degrees) is several times more popular than engineering at the master's level.
Yet business (with 2,082 doctoral degrees) is several times less popular than engineering at the doctoral level.

Geology/earth science is a much smaller field, but the numbers are Table 314, with 1,350 master's degrees and 577 doctorates.
This represents 0.2 % of all master's degree and 0.9 % of all doctorates.

In business, master's degrees outnumber doctorates by a remarkable 75 to 1.
But in engineering, the ratio is only about 4 to 1. In geology, the ratio is even lower, about 2.3 to 1

 

Agreed, but as we both know and undoubtedly the entire academic world knows, the only reason HBS issues only a DBA is Harvard political noonah that prevents any school from Harvard except GSAS from issuing a Ph.D.