Dbl program at unisa

Only 25% of faculty positions are tenured. Average salary for non-tenured $36k.
As college professors lose earning power, unions gain appeal - Fortune Management

 

While I agree there is no quid pro quo, earning a doctorate can have a tremendous impact on one's career--especially if one has good career momentum already. It can burnish one's credentials. But too many times I read posts from people who are looking to start something by earning a DL doctorate. This isn't the same thing at all, and I think their expectations are misguided. But there's another rub....almost no one here actually does it while posting. I did (twice). There are others. But for the most part, we hear a lot of "want to," some "going to," a few "are doing," and the occasional "did." I'd be interested in hearing what the people who did it while posting here actually think and did with their degrees.

 

I have 3 masters, 2 earned traditionally and one DL. I have also a doctorate degree that was mainly earned via DL.

Salary wise, these degrees didn't do much for me as I was already making more than 100K with an engineering BS. However, I am able to enjoy more my life now as I do what like to do that is teaching and research. Teaching also allows me to travel quite often and many times paid by the university.

To me, it was more about doing what I like to do rather than money.
A good engineering degree or a CPA license is all you need to make a good living.

I believe that you mentioned that you doubled or tripled your salary with your PhD, I believe this is possible depending on your previous career and the area of work. Higher education doesn't pay as much but that was my choice, I believe if I had stayed in the private sector, I could have also doubled my salary (more than 200K).

Higher education can be profitable if you teach in the right field, some accounting professors make than 200K. However, a more realistic income is 80 to 120K.

 

I was (and am) a human resource developer. I was with AT&T, making low '60's. After a year at UoP, I went into consulting and doubled it. Two years later I doubled that by entering private practice. That would be a quadruple increase in a few years after earning the Ph.D. due to opportunities simply not available without it. (I settled into a government job right in the middle of the first and second jumps, again not possible without the Ph.D.

But they're not always connected. I expect this next thing I've done is going to be accompanied by an income reduction as I leave government service and practice in new ways. That's okay with me. We'll see.

 

In Canada we have unions, I was making more than 100K as an adjunct in Canada. Each course pays about 8 to 10K. Adjuncts are eligible for benefits as well.

There are quite a few people that make a comfortable living as adjuncts in Canada, the problem is to break in. Union's rules act as barriers of entry, getting a part time teaching position might take years of trying.

In the US, it is a different story, some pay as low as 1K per course. The difference is the number of students and expectations, some American schools can care less if you give As to all the students while most Canadian schools would put more attention to the grading and ask you to justify your marking. This means overall more time dedicated to Canadian students than American ones. Also, most Canadian schools have large classes.

Unions have good and bad sides, one problem is that as unions are getting more power, some Canadian schools have opted for limited term appointments of one year at the time instead of adjuncts. It actually costs less than adjuncts and you can fire them after the year of the contract is due. On the other hand, you cannot fire unionized adjuncts. Also, as adjuncts become more expensive, schools find ways to reduce costs such as online courses with mega enrollments or outsource the teaching to a company, some schools in Europe are already doing this.

 

I think is safe to say that you can benefit from a doctorate once you have all the requirements for advancement in your career but just missing the PhD check mark. The issue seems to be related to people that have low profile careers and then expect that the doctorate would change their career prospects over night.
People come quite often to this forum asking if they can just spare few thousand dollars here and there for a UNISA PhD and then become a tenure track faculty in Europe or the USA overnight. They are currently working in non academic related positions and many in other countries and they see the PhD as ticket for a huge career in the US or Europe.
If things were that simple, you would see a flood of people taking these programs but you don't see many doing it for a reason.

 

I agree with this so much it almost hurts!

Implied in your post is something I want to make explicit: the cost of a UNISA doctorate. The tuition is just one part of it. It looks inexpensive until you do it.

 

The opportunity cost of a doctorate is huge, the number of hours invested should be taken into consideration.
The other problem is the assumption that a student would be accepted into a program just because the student made a decision to register in a program.

Top Universities do not offer admission to PhD programs so easily, they need to be convinced that you have what it takes to finish one.

DBAs, DBLs, EdD, DMs, etc are meant for working professionals so admission requirements are a lot more lax than PhD programs.

Many come here and mention that want to do a PhD from UNISA, but they don't realize that you first need to write a proposal and find a suitable supervisor and met admission requirements. It is not just about sending your application with a credit card number.

 

Hee-hee! Again, I'd like to hear from people that have actually done a doctorate by DL while posting here. The score isn't really 2-0, is it?

 

couldn't agree more

 

have to agree with you!

 

Hmmm... I did one, but I think I may have lost sight of the question - LOL.

 

Many come here and mention that want to do a PhD from UNISA, but they don't realize that you first need to write a proposal and find a suitable supervisor and met admission requirements. It is not just about sending your application with a credit card number.[/QUOTE]

Amen. Amen. I will be in year five July 2014. It is not easy. You have to be self motivated. You have to want to do it. You have to have the drive to do it and finish. It is hard folks.

 

Agree, it is not easy at Free State, either. I had to do a year long field study with them in order to convince them that I understood how to do research, and then another year preparing the proposal for the dissertation, which included four defenses of my work via various methids, including Skype. I am now at the dissertation manuscript stage, and am on chapter two. Why am I doing this? Purely self actualization, the brass ring, etc.

 

Well said! It was almost the same for the DBL at UNISA. Tons of work including the big first year paper, and serial defenses of the work in stages as you've described. It was tons of challenging fun and a real workout. Essentially it was its own reward in the end.