Doctoral Differences: Professional doctorates and PhDs compared

Abstract

For more than a decade professional doctorates in Australia have continued to grow and diversify across a broadening array of disciplines. An empirical study of “The Doctoral Education Experience” in Australian universities included an examination of doctoral experiences in departments offering both PhD and professional doctorates. This paper discusses professional doctorates in education, management, law and the creative arts, remarking on similarities and differences found between PhD and professional doctorate programs, providing an insight into practice. Three specific areas are discussed. The first is the recruitment and selection of students, student choice of professional doctorates and perceived career benefits. The second area is the structure and organisation of PhD and professional doctorate programs, including the identification of the research topic. The third area is the perceived status of professional doctorates vis‐à‐vis the PhD. The findings are discussed within the context of government policy on postgraduate education and the emerging literature on professional doctorates. The concluding section of the paper considers the issue of differentiation between the doctorates and possible future developments. Within the context of Australian higher education the main difference could become the capacity to pay: attempts to impose fees in advance for professional doctorates are reinforced by recent government policy on student financing.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Emeritus Professor Tony Becher for his comments on drafts of this paper. The empirical data on which this paper is based comes from The Doctoral Education Experience: Diversity and Complexity, a research project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training as part of its Evaluations and Investigations Programme. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Clare Holland, Anna Isaacs, Hellen Morgan‐Harris and Sarah Wilks who were the research assistants on this project. An early version of this paper was presented at the 4^th International Biennial Conference on Professional Doctorates, Doctoral Education in Australia: What's New, Where to?. University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 29–30 November, 2002.