On Jul 6, 2007, at 12:08 AM, Mark Russell wrote:
Dear MSR Group,
Greetings. My name is Mark Russell and I am nearing completion of a PhD. in Intercultural Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary. My work has been focused on the integration of religious faith and marketplace dynamics in global business. I am interested in pursuing doctoral work in a school of management or business where I can continue research along these lines and be qualified to teach in a school of management or business.
Can anyone refer me to a good doctoral program that does not require residency? I would like to work on a PhD, Dmgt, or a DBA and am interested in finding a program that is designed for a working professional.
Your time and assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mark Russell
Hi Mark
The Ph.D. Project website says "If you are seriously considering teaching at the university level as a tenure–track professor, you should attend a full-time doctoral program at an AACSB accredited business school." This is a good point. There is a strong bias in many business schools against hiring people from part time, online or low residency programs. I talked to a fellow on a hiring committee recently and he said, "We had 100 applicants for this position, but half of them were from online and part-time programs. We just threw those applications in the trash."
There is also a prejudice in many schools against people with a doctorate in fields other than business or management.
If you can't attend a full-time program, you may want to consider a low residency program instead of limiting yourself to programs that require no residency. One good low residency program is the Fielding Institute Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Development (based in Santa Barbara). Again, it is not full time and not in business and management, but I hear that the quality of education is very good.
It isn't impossible to get a job teaching in a management or business school with a non-business degree or a degree from an online doctoral program; it's just very, very difficult. It sounds, though, like you are trying to improve your ability to get hired.
You're more likely to get hired with an MBA from a well respected program and your existing doctorate (which I assume is from a regionally accredited university) than a doctorate from a program that has a poor reputation.
A good idea would be to contact faculty who teach at a university where you'd like to teach, and ask them for advice on doctoral programs. Another good idea is to ask any doctoral program you are interested in questions like: What percentage of your graduates get full time jobs teaching in b-schools or schools of management? How many of these are tenure track jobs? What schools hired them?
Finally, good doctoral education is in many ways qualitatively different from professional, masters or bachelors education. In significant ways, you shouldn't choose a program so much as a person to work with. Think of the scholars whose work you admire and with whom you'd like to work. That is the best way to choose a doctoral program. For example, suppose you admired Peter Vaill's work and would like to work with him. That might direct you to Antioch University's low residency doctorate in leadership.
Before I get blasted by emails accusing me of being biased against part time, low residency, online or non-business doctoral programs, let me say that I think the prejudice against programs like these is unwarranted. One of America's major public intellectuals, Stanley Aronowitz, received his degree from one of these programs--The Union Institute. When I was in grad school at Case Western, one of the most accomplished (and the best known) member of the faculty, Frank Friedlander, left Case to go to work at The Fielding Institute. Personally, I think job candidates should be judged on the quality of their teaching and research, not the pedigree of the university where they received their doctorate.
- Don
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Don McCormick
Department of Management
College of Business and Economics
California State University Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330