Some advice to those considering a Ph.D.

Yes, but what subject?

Simply for the sake of discussion, assuming somebody WITHOUT a doctorate were to obtain one for no other reason than to be an adjunct online professor working from the middle of the some South Pacific Island while in pseudo-retirement, what would be the subject in which to obtain said doctorate?

Several good ones have already been mentioned, such as Criminal Justice/Homeland Security areas, business, and education.

What other areas are projected forward 5-10 years for consideration?

-Jassen

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: lifetime employment vs a lifetime employed

You are, of course, correct. In my wife's case, she is an immigrant, who has no cultural problem with being a mentee. More often than not, she has concluded that her current employer is doing things wrong, based on what she is learning in class.

However, we could start a new thread on the divergence of students' and instructors' perceptions of the relevance of the material being covered.

 

Re: Yes, but what subject?

The future is unknowable, but it is not unimaginable. No one can say for certain, but we can make some guesses based on the past few years.

Even though Business PhDs and DBAs are fairly common, every Business Administration and Management program requires them.

On the other hand, there are some subjects, where it is my experience that it is very difficult to find someone who has a regionally-accredited PhD and is not psychotic. Accounting and Finance come to mind.

Marketing is another area, where we do not see many PhDs, and would like to.

As you note in your post, Criminal Justice, but not Sociology, and Homeland Security seem to have good prospects.

Nursing is heating up, too. The population is aging and educational requirements for nurses are increasing as the profession becomes more technological. No longer is a thermometer and a good bedside manner enough; now, they almost have to be engineers, in order to work their equipment. (Knowledge Technologists is a subject for a thread of its own.)

Mathematics and Statistics are always in demand, and I have yet to hire anyone with a PhD in either subject. We are forced to use MA holders, and get our PhD coverage in other areas of our programs. If I had a PhD mathematician or statistician, I would be able to keep him or her busy.

As an administrator, these are pretty much my top ten. Schools with stronger Management Information Systems (MIS) programs than ours might be able to keep you busy, if you had a PhD in MIS. You would have to ask around, though. Ditto, Computer Science.

However, before you start sending out graduate school applications, check the websites of the universities where you would like to go, and see what they are offering. If you showed up on their doorstep with a US or UK PhD in a relevant subject, University of the South Pacific, University of the West Indies, College of the Bahamas, etc., might have something local for you, too.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: lifetime employment vs a lifetime employed

This sounds like a good topic. You should be able to turn it into a very nice consulting gig, in addition to teaching.

Never forget Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #33: "It never hurts to suck up to the boss."

 

Re: Yes, but what subject?

The single biggest demand is for MBA's. Education is next and IT 3rd (perhaps)