DBA v PhD?

[ivandrago]

Have completed a BSc and an MBA years ago and I don't really need to study further but I actually enjoy it/miss it and would like to do a Doctorate part-time or online.

As far as I can tell, the main difference between the two is that the DBA would involve a thesis which is related to my area(s) of work, would be a bit shorter (no lit. review?), would not be published* and can be done a bit quicker. In addition, the DBA seems more costly.

Has anyone done a DBA on here or can offer some insight?

* When they say your thesis is 'published' as part of your PhD, where exactly is it published?

 

[Energize]

Your phd work would be published in a relevant journal.

 

[Mel_P]

What does "DBA" stand for?

 

[dowie]

That is up to the people responsible for the journal(s) tbh... @OP your PhD will most likely be read by you and your supervisors and then filed away... you'll probably want to try and get some papers based on your PhD work published though.

I guess a DBA is sort of like an "MD" for business people? Or if being cynical, perhaps it is a way to generate some $$$ for universities by offering a sort of "executive" PhD for people who want some vanity credentials.

 

[Mel_P]

If you do a PhD all of your (original) work is published in a Thesis (a mighty tome!) - which is held by the awarding institution. Any worthwhile original findings would be proposed for publishing in a much shorter form in a scientific journal relevant to the discipline of your studies.

 

[dowie]

What does "DBA" stand for?

An MBA is an established masters level business degree: "Master of Business Administration"

Apparently some universities are offering another level to this... a "DBA", the D being "Doctor"

Much like you can earn a "DEng" after an MEng etc..

 

[Mel_P]

Getting old! MBA - yes, well known, DBA ??? Have googled it - very different to a PhD which is usually research based.

 

[dowie]

Getting old! MBA - yes, well known, DBA ???

I'd not heard of it before either.

 

[NickK]

Getting old! MBA - yes, well known, DBA ??? Have googled it - very different to a PhD which is usually research based.

Probably because there’s a lot of questions around how useful an MBA actually is.. so by changing the name to DBA they move away from the stigma.

Too many duff MBA courses out there, in reality only a few universities really have the respected MBA and that doesn’t mean the MBA will work in the company.

I know a few MBAs, what it does help is with communication and general understanding of concepts/tasks for most roles that “require it”.

 

[dowie]

Probably because there’s a lot of questions around how useful an MBA actually is.. so by changing the name to DBA they move away from the stigma.

That isn't what it is though, it isn't a repackaged MBA or a name change and the institutions offering it still offer MBAs. The MBA is practical/applied taught courses, the DBA is a research degree albeit it is seemingly undertaken by someone working within a company/organisation.

One thing the OP might want to consider doing, if he's looking at further study, is to perhaps consider a masters before engaging in research. Obvs he's got an MBA but that is just applied business courses rather than an advanced degree.

 

[NickK]

That isn't what it is though, it isn't a repackaged MBA or a name change and the institutions offering it still offer MBAs. The MBA is practical/applied taught courses, the DBA is a research degree albeit it is seemingly undertaken by someone working within a company/organisation.

One thing the OP might want to consider doing, if he's looking at further study, is to perhaps consider a masters before engaging in research. Obvs he's got an MBA but that is just applied business courses rather than an advanced degree.

I mean the emphasis, rather than the direct substitution. Was on a conf call the the same time.

 

[ivandrago]

Just to follow up on this, I talked to a few institutionsa as well as a previous tutor from my MBA and I am veering towards a PhD for the following reasons:

- Time/duration – likely be similar whether I do a DBA or PhD, unless I do it at a less well known institution – I’d be doing it part-time.

- I’ve done some more research and the kinds of topics which would now be classed as a DBA have, in the past, been done as PhDs when DBAs were not offered in the UK.

- In terms of the kind of topics I am interested in, they seem to be classed as a PhD.

- As I do not need to do any further study to specifically further my career and I already have an MBA, a PhD would be a slightly different challenge as I enjoy the academic side of things including research.

- Cost! The DBA is much more expensive and I can't help but feel is being used as a cash generator in some instances.

Not 100% decided yet but hopefully this might help someone else.

 

[dowie]

- Cost! The DBA is much more expensive and I can't help but feel is being used as a cash generator in some instances.

I did wonder about that.

As you don't have an MSc is it not worth doing one first before attempting a PhD? Obvs you can do a PhD with a BSc (or BA depending on subject) but these days the trend seems to be, at least with the full time programs, for doctoral training centres offering a 1+3 structure with an integrated masters say an MSc or an MRes (in the latter case fewer taught courses, modules covering research skills and a big thesis). Some universities offer standalone MRes degrees or similar too for people considering research too.

 

[ivandrago]

I did research methods modules as part of my MBA so it's no biggie. Will see what the institution I go for suggests - at this level, it's more about the supervisor than the university itself.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Your phd work would be published in a relevant journal.

Not necessarily.

Your PhD thesis may consist of previously published work, but it's quite possible to complete a PhD with no published papers.

Your PhD thesis goes into your institutions library (which may or may no be accessible to those outside the institution).

I did wonder about that.

As you don't have an MSc is it not worth doing one first before attempting a PhD? Obvs you can do a PhD with a BSc (or BA depending on subject) but these days the trend seems to be, at least with the full time programs, for doctoral training centres offering a 1+3 structure with an integrated masters say an MSc or an MRes (in the latter case fewer taught courses, modules covering research skills and a big thesis). Some universities offer standalone MRes degrees or similar too for people considering research too.

If you can get onto a fully funded PhD program without an an MSc (i.e you have good grades and references from academic supervisor) then I'd say doing an MSc first would be a waste of time - it hasn't held me back and you can always go and sit in on any Master lectures if there is something specific you want to cover.

 

[dowie]

If you can get onto a fully funded PhD program without an an MSc (i.e you have good grades and references from academic supervisor) then I'd say doing an MSc first would be a waste of time - it hasn't held me back and you can always go and sit in on any Master lectures if there is something specific you want to cover.

That depends on the PhD program, area of study etc...etc.. Some are rather competitive and won't let people on without a masters, others have an integrated masters degree (and provide an additional year of funding for this).

 

[D.P.]

Not necessarily.

Your PhD thesis may consist of previously published work, but it's quite possible to complete a PhD with no published papers.

Your PhD thesis goes into your institutions library (which may or may no be accessible to those outside the institution).



If you can get onto a fully funded PhD program without an an MSc (i.e you have good grades and references from academic supervisor) then I'd say doing an MSc first would be a waste of time - it hasn't held me back and you can always go and sit in on any Master lectures if there is something specific you want to cover.

It depends at the institution but for example where I did my PhD it was basically required that the main work in your thesis was publish, with guidelines that there should be 1 to 2 journals articles and 3-6 conference proceedings, plus some odds and ends like a a co-authored book chapter. This makes sense because the idea of a PhD is to get your academic ability up to a professional level worthy of scientific publication. the easiest way to prove that is to get your work published. The best theses I have seen consists of 4 or 5 papers basically stapled together forming chapters with some prologue explain how each peer-reviewed paper fits within the overall research narrative, all sandwiched between decent introduction and conclusion.



As for Masters, this may well be compulsory. Whether it is useful or not depends on personal experience. I did my BSc in Scotland which is a 4 year degree and fits somewhere between a BSc and masters in terms of points, but the key thing is there was a very big final year project that took around 16 months to complete and was larger ins cope than the Masters projects because of the timelines involved. because of that I wanted to skip a MSc and luckily mnaged to after a lot of fighting with red-tape and doing a load of additional PhD level courses. Saved 1-2 years but on the afce of it I think doing the MSc would have made sense.

 

[D.P.]

What does "DBA" stand for?

This is the general problem with a DBA, especially ona n international perspective. Just do a PhD

 

[deusexlumina]

You may/may not be aware of this but a part time PhD can take up to 6 years (albeit shorter if you want and put in the time).

What do you want to achieve out of it? If you enjoy learning and research, great - you'll enjoy it. If this is strictly career progression, you can probably find more efficient ways to climb the ladder.

Depending on your topic, it can be a fairly solitary experience compared to a masters/undergrad degree. If you have to do labs/fieldwork then it's more social.

Find a good supervisor who actually cares about your research. Research the supervisor, look at how active they are, recent publications etc.