What does it take to get a doctorate in business?

Answer 1

Getting a doctorate in business, or any doctorate if truth be told, takes a lot of endurance, persistence and personal time. Doctoral programs are different from other programs. In most programs, the focus is to obtain knowledge while in doctoral programs, the focus is to contribute to knowledge.

In most United States doctoral business programs, you are required to take about 2 years of coursework followed by comprehensive oral and written examinations. Once your coursework and examinations are completed, you must write a dissertation that: (1) is on an original topic in a given field; and (2) contributes to that field. Altogether, it may take 4 to 8 years to obtain a doctorate in business. The length of time it takes to complete a business doctorate depends on your personal motivation, your dissertation topic, your dissertation committee, your ability to obtain expertise in your chosen field and the amount of time you can contribute to your doctoral studies among other factors.

If you are considering a doctorate in business, may I suggest that you start reading the top tier academic journals in your particular business field. This will give you an idea of the type of academic material you will be exposed to in your doctoral courses and the type of dissertation you will be expected to write.

For example, the top tier academic journals in the field of accounting are: The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research and the Journal of Accounting and Economics.The business fields of marketing, management and finance have their own top tier journals. These journals should be available in the business school library of a research university or college and sometimes you can obtain copies of articles from these journals for free online. You may be charged a fee for copies of the most recent articles.

An important factor to consider is to what types of doctoral programs you should apply.

The most widely recognized and respected business doctorate is the Ph.D. Most Ph.D. programs do not require a masters degree or any type of work experience. They focus on high grade point averages and high standardized test scores (such as the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). These programs require or expect full-time attendance. In many cases, if you are accepted into these programs, the tuition is free and they provide you with a living stipend in exchange for your employment as a research assistant in the beginning of your studies and as a teaching assistant later on in your studies.

Please note that even with free tuition and a living stipend, you will be facing financial hardship. Many Ph.D. students rely on money from their relatives and/or work at odd jobs just to support themselves. If you have a high-paying job before you enter such a program, your standard of living will drop precipitously as you will be required to give up this job. If you think you can hold onto this job and study for your Ph.D. at the same time, think again. The Ph.D. program is very demanding and the drop-out rate for full-time Ph.D. students who don't work is about 50 percent.

Another type of doctorate in business is the professional or executive research doctorate in business. These types of doctorates have different names depending on the schools that offer them. Case Western Reserve University offers an Executive Doctor of Management (E.D.M.), the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University offers an Executive Doctorate in Business, Nova Southeastern University offers a Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) and Pace University offers a Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Business. Others schools have offered Executive Ph.D.s in Management. These doctoral programs usually require a masters degree and some professional business experience. They usually don't offer free tuition and living stipends; however, you can usually attend these programs on a part-time basis and many companies do pay for their executives and managers to attend these programs. Some of these doctoral programs require a dissertation that offers an original contribution to practice as opposed to theory while others require the composition of one or more publishable papers.

In most cases, the top research universities prefer to hire Ph.D. graduates but due to the shortage of business professors with doctorates, the professional/executive research doctoral graduates are becoming more accepted. These professional/executive doctoral graduates can find better teaching opportunities at teaching-oriented business schools as opposed to research-oriented business schools; however, it should be noted that most Ph.D. graduates ultimately wind up at teaching-oriented schools simply because the number of available teaching positions at research-oriented schools is small and the competition for these positions is fierce. Furthermore, because of their masters degrees and extensive business experience, companies are more likely to hire the professional/executive doctoral graduates to work as executives, managers or consultants than the Ph.D. graduates.

It should be noted at this point that all of the above doctoral programs are competitive. The Ph.D. programs focus on superior academic achievement while the professional/executive doctoral programs focus on superior professional achievement with some consideration to academic achievement as well. The successful applicants of Ph.D. programs may have higher grade point averages and standardized test scores but the successful professional/executive doctoral applicants have much more impressive work experiences in addition to above-average grade point averages. People who were accepted by Ph.D. programs have been rejected by the professional/executive doctoral programs and vice versa; the point is, professional/executive doctoral programs are not to be considered as a "back door" to the Ph.D. degree. Both types of programs are demanding and competitive - the difference between these types of their programs is their focus not their academic rigor.

Other possibilities are the accredited online doctoral programs in business. Capella University offers a Ph.D. while the University of Phoenix offers a Doctor of Management (D.M.) and there are other schools that offer online doctorates in business. These programs have state and regional accreditation so they are not "diploma mills" and they may be very demanding programs; however, there is bias against these programs because they are online. Online education is the wave of the future and more traditional colleges and universities are offering online programs as well but until more states begin to accept and accredit these types of schools, bias against them will exist. But many graduates of these schools have found employment in teaching and business so these programs should be considered for their convenience, flexibility and opportunities.

Whether you decide to go for a Ph.D. or a professional/executive doctoral program, it is recommended that you obtain a masters degree first. A relevant masters degree will shorten the amount of time it takes to obtain a Ph.D. even if the Ph.D. program does not require one. A masters degree is usually required by the professional/executive doctoral programs and the online doctoral programs.

It is also recommended that you obtain at least 5 to 10 years of professional experience before you apply for any doctoral program. The benefit of such experience will allow you to: (1) save money for any doctoral program; (2) meet the requirements of the professional/executive doctoral programs and the online doctoral programs; and (3) increase your chances of obtaining employment in the academic and business worlds after you obtain your business doctorate. Many schools and business firms prefer to hire people who have some experience in business as opposed to just a bunch of academic degrees. Business students have complained that many of their professors, who hold Ph.D.s, are too academic and theoretical and that they have never worked in business, so what do they really know about business beyond their esoteric, academic research?

To summarize, before entering a doctoral program in business, read the top tier academic business journals in your field, obtain a masters degree, obtain solid professional business experience, save your money and be prepared to make many personal sacrifices. It would also help if you try and publish articles before you enter a doctoral program and/or present papers at conferences. You don't have to publish academic papers in top tier academic journals or present at competitive academic conferences (although this helps immensely); rather, you can try to publish papers in professional journals, lower-tiered academic journals and present papers at professional conventions and less competitive academic conventions. These types of scholarly activities on your resume are very impressive.

Good luck.