Can you use different degree Abreviations than your university does?

Re: Degree Initials

Well, i think spelling out "Kandidat fiziko-matematicheskih nauk" (PhD-equivalent Russian degree in physics or maths) would not be very practical

 

Re: I can't believe this!

My Ph.D. from Bethany Divinity College and Seminary says "Doctor of Philosophy." So, I should be able to us either D.Phil. or Ph.D., correct? Granted it is not written in Latin.

 

==




Prof K

Help me out as I respect your opinion.

The Unizul degree I am after is labled "D.Th. ." This , in the Dept Catalogue, is stated to be "Doctor of Theology." If I use "Th. D." instead, (Doctor of Theology- the American form), is this fraudulent or offensive?

Thanks,

 

I suppose you could alter an abbreviation, but frankly that is an accident waiting to happen! Given the difference in research (PhD) and real-world-flavored/coursework (DBA) DBAs and PhDs are not perceived as being equal in certain circles.

These sites are pretty good resources: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~ayeongcw/dba.htm
http://www.dba.monash.edu.au/structure.php?a=02
http://www.apmi.com.hk/news.htm

If someone did change an abbreviation I'd have to ask, "Why?" Might be perceived as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent yourself.

 

On this forum, it might seem like we sometimes talk about minutia. This might seem like a non-important question, but the fact is that we also deal quite often with discussions of inappropriate behavior when it comes to degrees and credentials. Often, people just want to know what is acceptable and what is not. This is the spirit of the question as I saw it.

There are equivalent degrees. All research doctorates, be they Ph.D., Ed.D., Th.D., etc. are considered equivalent to each other. However, their titles are not interchangable.

There should be no problem at all with using either D.Phil. or Ph.D., nor should there be a problem with D.Ed. and Ed.M. in place of Ed.D. and M.Ed.

Ph.D. and Ed. D. or Ph.D. and D.B.A. cannot be used interchangably, since the are not the same degree (even if they are equivalent).

Tony Pina
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

On this forum, it might seem like we sometimes talk about minutia. This might seem like a non-important question, but the fact is that we also deal quite often with discussions of inappropriate behavior when it comes to degrees and credentials. Often, people just want to know what is acceptable and what is not. This is the spirit of the question as I saw it.

There are equivalent degrees. All research doctorates, be they Ph.D., Ed.D., Th.D., etc. are considered equivalent to each other. However, their titles are not interchangable.

There should be no problem at all with using either D.Phil. or Ph.D., since they both mean "Doctor of Philosophy". Nor should there be a problem with D.Ed. and Ed.M. in place of Ed.D. and M.Ed (Dotor of Education and Master of Education). Harvard calles their M.Ed. an Ed.M., but it is the same degree.

Ph.D. and Ed. D. or Ph.D. and D.B.A. cannot be used interchangably, since they are not the same degree (even if they are equivalent).

Tony Pina
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

Using alternate abbreviations for the SAME degree is not a problem. BS/SB/BSc all stand for "Bachelor of Science." I myself use MS instead of the SM that my university chose, because MS is the far more accepted abbreviation for "Master of Science" in the United States. Many people don't know what SM stands for. Besides, SM just looks too strange.

Using the abbreviation of one degree to refer to a completely different degree is dishonest. There is nothing wrong with a DBA, so why call it a PhD? They are different degrees, even if they are equivalent in terms of academic level. I don't think many people would try to use BS instead of BAA, or BA instead of BFA; they are all at the bachelor's level, but they are different degrees.

Be proud of the degree you have!

Alex

 

Jon - I've run into this with respect to a DBA versus a PhD. I am very careful not to say "PhD" given my DBA as it might appear that I'm misrepresenting myself. In most cases there aren't a lot of differences - but I'd prefer to go on the safe side.

Note that some schools have gone with "non-PhD" labels in order to gain approval or to avoid confusion with traditional on-ground programs. I've seen two schools take doctoral proposals to NCA recently - the one that used non-PhD labels was successful and the other that asked for a PhD was turned down.

At the same time, it is interesting to see Nova Southeastern work to shift their DBA to a PhD in business. I suspect this may be a reflection of the competition.

Regards - Andy

 

Kirstie7

I had no intention of causing offence to anyone but I am sure that to re-name a degree is of questionable validity, especially when it can lead to misrepresentation. A DPhil and a PhD are the same but a DBA and a PhD, while both doctorates, they are not the same. University committees are firm on nomenclature and if they approve a degree programme as a DBA they will not take kindly to attempts to pass it off as a PhD. It is fraud to do so.

Bill Grover: D.Th or Th.D are different names for the same degree, as are DPhil and PhD. I would still expect to see them as they were awarded, though if the nomenclature for the same degree is different where you are domeciled (MSc or SM), and if there is no attempt to mislead, that would be OK in non-academic activities, but you would need to revert for formal academic purposes to the award name - your interviewers are not part of the uneducated population.

Likewise a BA is not a BSc. I used to teach in a university where the first degree was BTech and there used to be a degree in Scotland called B.Com. Graduates would be expected to use the award they earned, not another one they think is more well known. In all this we are not concerned with what 'many people' do not know. Awards, like medals, are recognised by those for whom they are awarded and the set of people who 'know'.

Surgeons in Britain drop the title 'Doctor' for 'Mister' on promotion to 'Consultant' and it would be considered unacceptable to call themselves 'Doctor' just to impress ignorant patients or friends. The people who matter in the hospital process know the status of a person called 'Mister Smith'. The patients awaiting surgery may not know but, if they are conscious, it would soon be apparent who was in charge of the Theatre.

Interesting that in a class ridden culture like Britain's we are known for our tendency to understatement in all these matters, but in the more democratic and, it seems, more status conscious North America, there is a tendency to facination by minor issues of academic degree titles. If you feel you have to explain your awards by subterfuge, I suggest you are talking to, or keeping company with, the wrong people. Self confident people prefer to bask in the ignorance of those in the 'other world' outside the group that 'know' the difference between degree award nomenclature.

 

Actually you are correct. The UNISA DLitt et Phil is equivalent to a PhD. UNISA also has several PhD programs. I find this a bit confusing. Nonetheless, there are two professors of economics at Vista U. that earned their DLitt et Phil degrees at UNISA. I've noticed that one of them uses the DLitt. only. The other professor uses PhD. after his name. I guess it goes to show that this degree is interchangeable.

 

Actually you are correct. The UNISA DLitt et Phil is equivalent to a PhD. UNISA also has several PhD programs. I find this a bit confusing. Nonetheless, there are two professors of economics at Vista U. that earned their DLitt et Phil degrees at UNISA. I've noticed that one of them uses the DLitt. only. The other professor uses PhD. after his name. I guess it goes to show that this degree is interchangeable.

 

Hi Stanislav: Rather than using PhD, I think the more appropriate (and classier) thing is to use Kandidat (alone!) italicized in a listing of degrees, and refer to yourself as Dr Stanislav elsewhere in a cv to make the point of equivalency, or put in brackets after the listing Ph.D. equivalent, so:

Kandidat, Kaliningrad State University, 2003

or

Kandidat, Kaliningrad Stae University, 2003 [Ph.D. equivalent]

I have seen this done with other "foreign" degrees where the Anglophone nomenclature was not paralleled. I think the F---ch have something called an Agrege (accented final e) which has been listed in such a way as this.

Basically, I think there's something wrong with altering the name or abbreviation of the degree you got. If the people hiring you are so stupid that they can't comprehend that, say, PhD and DPhil and DLitt et Phil are all equivalent, then the place is a weasel nest and better left alone.

Oh, and only an unreconstructed flummerer would try to pretty up an unaccredited PhD by calling it a DPhil and hoping it sounded foreign or somehow "special". The impulse to flummer takes on many forms.

 

Yeah, this sounds right. But it seems that most Kandidats prefer to list their degree as PhD (and Doktors as DSc.). See for example Drs. Vitaliy and Vladimir Klichko - professional heavyweight boxers (I wonder how their dissertation defences looked like!)

 

It depends a lot on the country of residence. In Canada, we don't have any DBAs so your degree needs to be evaluated for equivalency if you require to work in a place where the doctorate in needed (e.g. University professor). If the minister of education considers that the DBA is equivalent to a PhD, you will be allowed to use the letters PhD since the minister is grating you an equivalent. DBAs
from american universities are normally equivalent to PhDs.

 

Could it be that DBA/Th.D./DO/etc. are techical degrees specifically related to a professional subject; whereas Ph.D. is a general degree in both the arts and sciences signifying a research dissertation; whereas a D.Phil. is literally a doctor of philosophy as in studying philosophy as a major? Such as MA/MS being a general degree designation but the MPhil is the Master's degree in a study of philosophy? Just a thought to throw out there.

Steven

 

By "technical degrees", I think that you mean first professional degree (as opposed to a research doctorate). The DO (Doctor of Osteopathy is a first professional degree (as is the JD, MD, DVM or MDiv).

The DBA, ThD an EdD are research doctorates, equivalent to the PhD. The DPhil can be awarded in fields other than philosophy (as can the PhD).

Tony Piña
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

I think so

I think you use

your name, Ph.D.

 

This is mildly ironic

Hi All,

I started this thread for no other reason than curiosity about the answer, but I have discovered that the subject actually does apply to me.

While reading this thread, I noticed someone mentioning different degree abreviations if the diploma is in Latin. That got me thinking about my own Bachelor of Arts degree. The school I received my degree from (Georgetown) has all of their diplomas written in Latin. Even so, I was positive that the proper abreviation for my degree was BA.

I decided to check on their website and noticed that it is printed both ways (BA and AB) depending on where on the university website you go . Finally, I called up one of the Dean's for the college of arts and sciences and she informed me that the proper abreviation for my degree is AB!! The whole time since I have graduated I have been using the wong Abreviation .

The funny thing is that I always liked the AB abrieviation a little more than the BA, but I never used it because it wasn't (so I thought) the proper abrieviation for my degree. I just hope that noone accuses me of deception and misleading the public for my unauthorized use of BA over the past few years .

Jon

 

D Litt et Phil vs PhD

Hello All,

I am very glad to have found this thread. I wrote a long question on this topic as a new thread the other day, but for some unknown electronic universe reason I could not get it to actually post after logging in. Anyway, I have been looking at the UNISA D Litt et Phil in Health Studies. I wrote to UNISA for clarification on appropriate title to use (i.e. is it appropriate to use PhD as abbreviation of their Doctor of Literature and Philosophy). I have not gotten a response from UNISA, but did get one from Dr Esselen at IACI-Canada, UNISA's North American agent. He simply stated that each 'school' at UNISA has a name for its doctoral degrees, and that the D Litt et Phil is what 'Arts' uses; 'Science' uses PhD, 'Social Science' uses DPhil, etc. I looked many many other ZA Uni's and all used PhD and none listed D Litt et Phil.

I have again written for usage clarification to IACI as I too have seen D Litt et Phil listed as PhD by Americans. As far as I can tell, UNISA is the only institution that awards the D Litt et Phil, meaning few will recognize the degree. What is really interesting is that several UNISA programs, e.g. Psychology, are listed under D Litt et Phil AND PhD, even though the research requirements are exactly the same. I can not imagine that Psychology is taught in two different schools at UNISA - Arts and Science - so it is quite confusing.

Like the original poster, I simply want to be sure that I am being ethical if I use the designation PhD. I may consider another school that does offer PhD (and swing the higher tuition, e.g. Charles Sturt), or if I chose UNISA and the say to use the D Litt et Phil then that I will do.

I agree with those who have said that using PhD instead of DBA or EdD, etc is very unethical. I also agree that DPhil and PhD is a matter of semantics - they are both abbreviations of the same thing. Still, I would make sure that the Univeristy that awarded the degree is OK with this. That is why I want to know UNISA's stand on this before I apply.

On a related note, my MS department changed names after I graduated but I was told I should still and for all time use the original department name. Also, our EdD program finally was changed to a PhD. However, those that earned an EdD must continute to use that, even though they did the same research based qualification that is now called a PhD. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Matt Rogers