CEOs with PHD

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by okydd, Oct 31, 2010.

Loading...
  1. okydd

    okydd New Member

    I was viewing GPS on CNN today. 2 of the CEOs had a Phd. No big deal. I just want to mention that if you have a good business background a Phd may be an asset. A Phd does not have to always be a job in academia.
    Kleinfeld @ Alcoa earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Economics from the University of Goettingen. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the University of Wuerzburg.
    Schmidt @ Google holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.
     
  2. xkaperx

    xkaperx New Member

    The CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Gary Loveman has a PhD in economics from MIT and he used to be a professor at HBS...
     
  3. Woho

    Woho New Member

    Since you are mentioning Kleinfeld: German C-level executives have a notoriously high rate of PhDs. Somebody once checked the members of the boards of directors in their 30 biggest companies and two thirds of them were holding a PhD.
     
  4. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    From the pace that online doctoral programs are popping up these days, it is safe to say that going forward, we will see many CEO-types as well as VP-types with doctoral degrees from high-end schools (expensive programs like Capella are geared toward folks with money. Charging high tuition has a way of screening "average Joes" to a point that not all "dick and harry" with online degrees will have degrees from the school). I can also see Sullivan's PhD in Management becoming popular among CEOs and other senior managers soon. On the other hand, we will also see CEOs with PhDs from the Northcentrals, the TUIs, and other questionable online-only schools hide their doctoral degrees from their Bios/CVs.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 31, 2010
  5. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    There is nothing questionable about those schools. They are all RA and from what I can tell good schools. It's comments like yours that make them appear substanderd.
     
  6. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    Just curious, Why do you say Northcentral and TUI are questionable? Northcentral is ACBSP accredited and both are RA accredited??
     
  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    As a bit of a counterpoint, George Pierson of Parsons Brinckerhoff has a Bachelors in Civil Engineering, a Masters in Civil Engineering, an MBA and a JD. Adding a PhD to that resume would seem a bit silly to me.
     
  8. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    I beg to differ.

    I beg to differ. Listing a Ph.D. on one's Curriculum Vitae (CV) is far from silly but very reasonable! As a matter of fact, unlike the resume, the CV lists numerous accomplishments and can be dozens of pages in length.
     
  9. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Phil Condit, former Boeing CEO, has a Ph.D.
     
  10. ITJD

    ITJD Active Member

    I agree. The man has a professional doctorate already and is already a CEO. However, that could spin the other way as he has "only" a professional doctorate. Depends on what he tries to do next, if he needs to do anything.
     
  11. ITJD

    ITJD Active Member

    People are questioning the quality of the schools. That makes them "questionable". By application of basic logic, appearing substandard raises questions. Questions don't arise from quality. They do arise from "kwality".
     
  12. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    We've had many conversations about the acceptability of degrees, esepcially, doctoral degrees from these internet-only for-profit schools. Let me just say this: Get a degree from one of these profit-making outfits, and then try to use that degree to get an executive-level job at companies like Google, Amazon, Intel, Exxon Mobil, or other major companies, and then see how you will be laughed at. Worst, walk into a public not-for-profit institution with your online PhD, and then see how you'll be looked at. Bottom line, degrees from online-only schools are not taken seriously yet.

    Many do not believe that a degree, especially, a serious degree such as a doctoral degree could be earned without formal face to face interaction with the institution or Professors; that's why they are rejected. Just because you voluntarily hand-over your cash to online schools doesn't mean that people should accept your degree from there. While I am a fan of DL, have earned a DL masters degree from an internet-only school, the sad part is that many of these schools know what they need to do to elevate the image of DL in general, or to minimize the negative image among stakeholders (students, public etc) that some of their questionable practices continue to portray, yet they blantantly ignore because many are still handing over their dollars to them in the form of tuition.

    Dishing out $40/$50k or more to earn a doctoral degree that is only good for teaching as an online adjunct at the same internet-only school or at another online school only, which is what many who've earned these degrees are doing with their internet PhDs, makes such doctoral degrees questionable, regardless of whether the degrees are RA or ACBSP.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2010
  13. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    It is not comments like mine that make the degrees questionable. It is the questionable practices of the schools, and the fact that these schools are more interested in getting your money, and then "cut you loose" with or without the degree (we are beginning to see stories where thousands of dollars where paid, but no degrees awarded), than the utility of such degree in the "real world."

    Practices such as setting up business administration programs with zero or very limited business content courses, offering of correspondence courses with very limited support and then call that online programs, introducing variety of fees and changing program requirements in the middle of programs, as well as not doing anything to address legitimate student complaints , which would help in raising the overall image of of DL.

    While these practices maybe overlooked at the undergrad and master's level by the public, when it comes to doctoral degrees, higher academic standards are expected and many of these programs do not meet that high academic standard and the public is aware of it. That is what makes these programs substandard, not comments like mine.
     
  14. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Are you saying that:

    1. The utility of an online doctoral degree is pretty much useless, while the utility of an online masters degree is good?

    2. The academic rigor of an online doctoral degree is inferior, while the academic rigor of an online masters degree is good?

    3. Online doctorates are attempting to mascaraed as the holy grail of real in-resident doctorates?

    :popcorn:
     
  15. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    Like it or not, this assertion is demonstrably true for Intel, one of the companies cited above. Intel made headlines in 2006 when they announced that they would no longer reimburse employees for study at the University of Phoenix. Other companies, including Fedex and Lockheed Martin, now have similar policies. As far as these firms are concerned, a degree from a school like UoP is not a worthwhile investment.

    It should be acknowledged that many other schools, including lower-tier B&M schools, are also barred from tuition reimbursement under Intel's current policy. However, UoP was probably the single largest program affected by the change.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2010
  16. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Fascinating!!! :raincloud:

    Still waiting for a response to these questions from anyone. :question:
     
  17. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    I didn't say that. If your questions are meant to portray what I meant, you need to re-read my post. I'm simply saying that folks ignore masters degrees earned online more than doctorate degrees. The reason being that when you earn a PhD, for example, you immediately become an authority in your field. Because society respects doctoral earners more than holders of other lower level degrees, and because they have to refer to you as a doctor, they pay more attention to your education including what you studied and how you earned it.

    The problem is that many are realizing that doctoral degrees earned online from some of these online schools without any face-to-face contact with professors from the granting schools, are not the same as those earned traditionally because of the questionable integrity and practices of the schools offering these programs. Folks are apprehensive calling people with online doctorates from "questionable" online schools "doctor," that is why they will continue to question, and sometimes, reject those degrees.

    Get ten master degrees from online schools no one cares. Get one doctoral degree from an online school, and then try to use that degree to apply for jobs that typically require doctorates, the issue of how and where you obtained that one doctorate degree pops up. Also, since many jobs do not even require doctorates, listing one on your resume and then using that resume to apply for low-level jobs/positions also call into question why you are using a doctorate degree, that is suppose to be used to pursue advanced or executive level positions, to seek a low level jobs that only requires lower level educational requirements. This explains why many with online doctorates hide those degrees, sometimes, from their resumes to minimize unnecessary questions. That's all what I'm saying...
     
  18. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    You're confusing online education with for-profit education. There are doctoral degrees one can earn from schools that are non-profit but online-only, such as Fielding and Saybrook, which are accepted fine in traditional higher education.

    -=Steve=-
     
  19. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    Tiers

    There certainly seems to be a tier system developed for the regionally accredited schools as perpetuated by the US News and World Report College ranking. Best Colleges - Education - US News

    With that in mind, I would agree that a Regionally accredited online for profit school may fall within a lower "tier" ranking but nevertheless, its a Regionally Accredited Ph.D!! In other words, you are in the club and I for one, would not hide it nor be embarrassed from holding one.

    I have numerous friends who graduated the military academies and they have asked me the question, "What do you call a guy who graduates last at the academy?"

    Answer: "Sir"

    So I ask, what do you call a PhD who graduates last from a bottom tier RA school?

    Answer: "Doctor"
     
  20. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's true, and you're very right that all of these schools are legitimate. But that doesn't mean credentials from them are all equally useful for every purpose, so it still makes sense to consider these other factors.

    -=Steve=-
     

Share This Page