Foreign Doctorates

There has been some discussion on this forum about a possible bias against foreign degrees in acadamia. Last night I looked through the faculty section of my old Cal. State L.A. catalog (1993-1995) and found they had professors with doctorates from The Universities of Toronto, Paris, Essen (Germany), The Philippiens, Melbourne, London School of Economics, Kiev (Russia), as well as several I can't remember.

 

While it hasn't been measured (to my knowledge), I would suspect there would be a greater level of understanding and acceptance of foreign degrees in academia compared to the employment market as a whole.

In academia there are processes for verifying the veracity of one's degrees, and those processes are actually used.

In general, though, it seems a degree from a foreign school raises questions with employers.

I would suspect having a degree from an unknown--or unverifiable--foreign school would make things difficult. I'm not so sure having a DBA from Glasgow would be a hinderance, given the reputation of the school and the kinds of situations where such a degree would come into play. But I would love to hear about someone getting a tenure-track position at an accredited university with a doctorate from Berne, Empresarial, Robert Kennedy College, Rushmore, or any other school that seems to have a questionable hold on proper recognition.

 

When I attended the University of Alberta some time ago well over half the faculty were from or educated in other countries. I thought this was the norm at all universities and an attempt to have an international outlook by employing professors with the widest possible experiences.

Then I discover degreeinfo where people wonder whether accredited doctorate factories are better than long established non-American universities. There are some different perspectives out there.

 

It aslo depends a lot on what the doctorate is in. A friend of mine who was a professor at UC-Berekley and is now at the Uni of Queensland has his PhD in Mining from Watwatersand. Witwatersand has a highly regarded mining program that is work renownd. While a graduate from the Polish University of Mining and Metallurgy (which is also well respected, but not as well known in the english speaking world) would have a more difficult time.

The point being, if the prgram is well known then you will have a lesser probelm seeking acceptance.

 

It is easy to justify a doctorate from let's say University of Toronto or London School of Economis since they are top tier universities and have excellent programs. But how can you justify a PhD from Empresarial in Costa Rica that is not even known in his country when you are a resident of california? having a degree from a obscure university of a third world country will raise a lot of questions even if it is legal.

 

Dennis Ruhl:"There are some different perspectives out there."




That's what suprised me when I joined this forum.

My current Cal. State Fullerton catalog lists professors with PhDs from: U. of Malaya, The Technion, Essex U., U. of Guelph, U. of Waterloo, Punjab U., Katholieke Universiteit, U. of Florence, U. of Wales, U. of New South Wales, U. of Western Austrailia, and India Institute of Technology among others.

 

To be fair, most of TUI students that have defended this university against more established and respected universities are residents of California. I agree that for a california resident it is much better to have an accredited Doctorate from a local university since it would be much easier to justify than one from Costa Rica, South Africa or Australia. However, I don't see why a resident of a non-us country would pay such a fortune for a "degree factory" when there are so many good options for less.

 

Although most professers with foreign doctorates also had foreign undergraduate degrees (which probably means they are not from the United States), I did see foreign doctorates with American undergraduate degrees (which I assume means they were originally from the U.S.).

My point is, I don't see a bias against foreign degrees in acadamia. At least not in the California State University system, which is probably the largest in the country. If someone wants to study with Tuoro or Cappella, fine. But I don't see it as a great advantage over foreign schools if the student wishes to persue an academic career.

 

Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine. It's not in Russia.

 

DOCTORATES

There is at least one prof at an RA school in Florida with a Doctorate from Sussex College of Technology, completed before 1988 when England reformed their higher education laws. I do not remember the university but it one that has many alternative programs but is definitely an RA institution.

 

I know way too many Ukrainians and a lot of them don't like Russians very much. They really don't like to be mistaken for Russians.

 

My take on this is that familiarity means something important to people who are hiring. A school whose name they don't recognize, a country whose system of higher education is unfamiliar, these create a bias in peoples minds, perhaps even on an unconscious level. If you add to that the fact that it was a DL research doctorate, that may be pushing the envelope a bit too far for some people. This last piece, the DL piece I believe is critical. I'd guess that foreign doctorates are better "respected" if the person was actually living in the country where the school is located.
Jack

 

Very well said Jack, I think that is the distinction.

 

I agree with Jack. The bottom line is we really don't know if those professors earned their foreign degree through DL or not. Even if someone has an RA "American" undergraduate degree and a foriegn Ph.D., we really don't know if they took time off to leave America and study in that country or not. It is all speculation. I think until the paradigm shifts, any DL degree (American or not) MAY have prejudice. I am a true believer that it is the output of the student, not the University, that determines the success of that student.

 

Re: Re: Foreign Doctorates

Amen brother Rich! I would add, a tenured postion where a PhD is required for the position.

As someone else pointed out there may be a difference between the perception of non brick & mortar DL schools (RA) and foreign schools (GAAP). Some foreign schools may look a whole lot better to academics than a DL RA school. Berne would likely not be in that category unless someone mistook it for Berne (Swiss).

I wonder with Dr. Hassad if:

i) a PhD is required for his position at Mercy

ii) it helped that his Masters was done while he was living in the West Indies so that his Berne degree does not look as strange since he listed it as from the West Indies.

How close are you to finishing your degree Rich? Those of us hanging out here with you since your aed days will rejoice with you when you reach your goal.

North

 

One of my professors at San Francisco State was a native born American with a Ph.D. earned residentially at England's University of Leeds.

I don't recall anyone criticising the university or the degree. It did generate interest and conversation on several occasions (which is why I remember it), but people tended to find the whole idea fascinating and wanted to know what studying in England had been like. This guy had no problem justifying his decision to study overseas. Of course it helped that his dissertation advisor had been Peter Geach, a philosopher of international stature.

SFSU and the CSU system had no difficulty recognizing the degree.

 

Re: Re: Re: Foreign Doctorates

 

Actually, what we want to do is read your diss. Once in a blue moon a diss really needs to be published. Yours is it.

 

You probably should not count on that. Perhaps the results will see some other form, though.

 

Well, good luck to you in finishing up, in any case.