Changing a D.B.A. into a Ph.D.--does anyone know how common this is?

I've heard from a reader who was intrigued to learn that five members of his faculty at Arizona State who had a D.B.A. degree when he attended 20 years ago now list themselves as Ph.D. None has responded to his inquiries.

Since it seems unlikely that even one, much less all five, went back and earned a new doctorate, this suggests that D.B.A.'s have morphed into Ph.D.'s the way people with a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) mostly became J.D.'s during the 1960s.

Does anyone know if this is a trend, or a peculiarity at one school, or what?

 

IIRC, Andy Borchers reported recently that Nova Southeastern is at least considering allowing D.B.A. grads to "trade-up" to a Ph.D.

 

I think this may occur frequently. Possibly after the fiftieth time explaining their doctorate is not a PhD, but is at the same level, some might be tempted to "slide right", motivated by the need to improve communications and cognizance. One one hand, it seems at the very least incorrect, on the other it might save time and understanding. I was looking at the UNISA site recently and noticed a number of esoteric business doctorates that most Americans would have difficulty recognizing...(these might also serve as models for "the doctorate behind the PhD" e.g. DCom (Dr of Commerce), DCompt (Dr of Accounting Science), DBL (Dr of Business Leadership).

 

It could be either the individuals or the schools making the morph and it may have to do with accreditation or prestige.

 

I've heard (fourth- or fifth-hand) of similar things, where grads change their degree designation when the school changes the degree program. They probably figure it's easier to explain.

Louis
PhD student, Touro