Interested in pursuing an online Ed.D. Can I still get my PhD later?

Hello, everyone!

Happy holidays to you all. It's been so long since I've written to you. I hope this message finds you well and you are staying safe.

So, I've done a lot of soul-searching over these past few months. I realized that I really do love teaching high school. I've been doing it for six years now, but I was also interested in moving up to administration, like possibly becoming the supervisor of the English Department someday. Therefore, I was researching some online Ed.D programs. Which ones do you think would be the best if I want to also enhance my English literature teaching skills in the classroom? I was interested in Indiana University's online Ed.D in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education.

Also, my heart is still set on getting a PhD in English literature. I don't think I'll ever get a job in academia, but to be honest, the PhD is just for me. I want to cross it off my bucket list and spend time immersing myself in literature. I'm trying to warm up to the idea of Old Dominion's online PhD in English since it's the most convenient and affordable option. But do you think it would be possible for me to get both an Ed.D and a PhD? Or should I just stick with one?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much, everyone!

 

It's totally up to you and your career or personal goals. You can get 5 doctorates if you want. That's your choice.

 

At this point, is there really any significant practical difference between the degrees? Harvard invented the Ed.D. and has now converted their program into a Ph.D. while creating a new, non-dissertation Doctor of Educational Leadership program. If Hahvahd gave up on its own creation, is there any justification for the Ed.D. degree at all?

 

Oh, I didn't know about Harvard. :O I heard about their master's program, but I didn't look into their Ed.D program since it's residential.

From my understanding, the Ed.D is geared towards those who wish to move up to administration in secondary schools. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong! Lol! And the PhD is a research degree for academia. This is what I was told at another forum.

Since I want to be an English Department supervisor someday, do you think the Ed.D would benefit me more than the PhD? In order to be a supervisor, I need a supervisor certificate, which I can get from a local college. The Ed.D is not completely necessary, but I figured it was a good degree to have. What do you think?

 

You're probably right; I have no idea, education not being my field. It does seem to me, though, that the "Doctor" title is useful in Education at all levels. But you would need only one degree for that!

 

Thank you so much! I would love to have my education doctorate someday, but I also want to study English literature at the doctoral level. I guess that's why I wanted both.

 

Yes. Unlike what happened at Harvard, the rest of the world still makes a strong distinction between scholarly and professional doctorates. The EdD is as strong a case for the professional doctorate as there is.

And even Harvard's actions were aligned with the scholarly/professional doctorate paradigm. Their rationale for the EdD was that it was a degree for a profession, like the DBA for business. But what Harvard didn't realize is that even professions can have a scholarly/theoretical element to them and can be advanced through scholarship. That's why a PhD in Business and a DBA can exist side-by-side-they're two sides of the same coin.

 

"Interested in pursuing an online Ed.D. Can I still get my PhD later?"

Yes. Why is this even in doubt? Do what makes you happy.

 

Yes, nothing is wrong with that. It is just a waste of time and money.

 

LittleShakespeare90, your interests and future plans (and indecision) seem very similar to my own. I have been going back-and-forth over pursuing an EdD, DA, or PhD for a few years now. Now I am really questioning whether I want to pursue another degree, or if I am simply contented with my master's degree. What I can say is that if your ultimate plan is to become an administrator, then I certainly think that an EdD is probably going to serve you the best. Most programs have tracks that focus specifically on this goal. Also, these pathways often focus on reaching adult students, data-gathering, and budgetary analysis that you won't get in a PhD program. Most admins at the small community college where I work have EdD degrees, or the slightly shorter EdS (specialist) degrees. In terms of being a department supervisor, our current English faculty head has an EdD degree. Our former head had an EdS degree. Just down the hall, the head of the history department only has his master's degree, but he did have previous, applicable experience that helped him into head position. These faculty head positions of course offer better pay than my current role as an instructor, but come with more responsibilities, as well (although they do have to teach fewer classes).

As for getting both the EdD and PhD, I'd say anything is possible, but there's only so much time at the end of the day. Time and money are finite resources. Where are you going to find the time to complete two rigorous academic programs that could take anywhere from 3-5 years. Even if you have the time and money, you run the risk of not have much left to give for the others around you, be it friends, family, etc. I know for my own sanity I would only choose to pursue one program.

I feel the exact way you do about English and literature. It's a love and passion of mine, as well. Yet, the long-term practicality and viability of landing a college level position in this field is extremely tough. Even for my community college, I was in the running with about 50 other candidates when I applied for my current position. The competition for university/college jobs is even more fierce, I imagine. Despite my knowledge in literature, I'm lucky to get to teach one literature course a semester. The rest of my load typically amounts to freshman-year composition courses. This is not ideal, but it's what I have learned to be happy with.

At any rate, good luck to you and your future academic endeavors! Let us know what path you decide on. I know I'd certainly be curious, because it might help to inform my own future plans.

 

Harrison-Middleton University might be a way to kill two birds with one doctorate, assuming that its accreditation by DEAC wouldn't be a limiting factor.

 

Would that be the HMU D.A.?

 

I note that the current catalog at HMU requires a dissertation for neither the D.A. nor the Ed.D. That makes me wonder; I had thought that both degrees generally require a dissertation and that the dissertation is what places them in the same category as the Ph.D.?

 

Not that the HMU programs are exactly alone; at least a few J.S.D programs allow the student to substitute a series of three publishable Journal articles for a dissertation. That might be a concession to the reality that there really isn't any "jurisprudence" in the American legal academy. American lawyers are pretty much unregenerate positivists.

 

They require a "capstone" as well as a "capstone defense." Most doctorates, especially the latest trend in "doctorates without dissertation" offer this option. A capstone can absolutely be just as rigorous. But the focus is on practice rather than purely scholarly contribution. Though, of course, I imagine there are capstones that are more scholarly as well as dissertations that are more practical out there.

 

Neuhaus nailed it.

I think both the EdD and the DA would do well with practice-based research and project(s) to the same level of rigor as a dissertation, but contributing to practice instead of scholarship.

I haven't looked closely enough at the differences between the EdD and the DA as HMU interprets them.