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Your opinions on this teaching related doctorate

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    #2
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    I looked into these a year or two ago.

    The general feeling was they there was a certain element of snobbery between PhD holders and these professional doctorates.

    Here's two more for you, a little closer to home:

    Sheffield

    Trinity

    The good thing about the Sheffield one is that the classes are held in Dublin, as are the Trinity ones, I am told. :)


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    #3
    Trotter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,362 ✭✭✭Trotter


    What exactly is the difference between a PhD and a professional doctorate though?


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    #4
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    I believe it is the fact that a professional doctorate contains a taught element, and is aimed at a target audience (i.e. a particular profession, such as education), as opposed to a PhD which is pretty much make it up as you go along.


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    #5
    Trotter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,362 ✭✭✭Trotter


    Tom Dunne wrote: »
    I believe it is the fact that a professional doctorate contains a taught element, and is aimed at a target audience (i.e. a particular profession, such as education), as opposed to a PhD which is pretty much make it up as you go along.

    Ah I get ya now. In terms of what I want, the EdD might suit me better. I'd like to go down the route of working in education strategy at EU level maybe or something like that. I need to spend a good few years learning my trade too though so doing the EdD while still in "discovery" mode might be good for me to do. Not to mention the earlier I get the doctorate the earlier I get the extra allowance in my wages.


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    #6
    sitstill
    Registered Users Posts: 1,380 ✭✭✭sitstill


    So would someone with an EdD not be able to get a position as a lecturer in a university like someone with a PhD would?


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    #7
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    sitstill wrote: »
    So would someone with an EdD not be able to get a position as a lecturer in a university like someone with a PhD would?

    That seems to be the big question.

    Technically, they are both Level 10 awards, so are supposed to be identical. When I worked at a certain Institute of Technology, I attended a talk given by a PhD holder about pursuing a PhD. He basically said purists don't hold them in the same regard as traditional PhDs.

    So, given that interviewing panels in Universities would be more "Old School", I would imagine they would not be looked upon as favourably as "normal" PhDs.


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    #8
    m1ke
    Closed Accounts Posts: 852 ✭✭✭m1ke


    My take on these is that the research element of a professional doctorate is not at the same level as a PhD. I would see it as an M.Litt tarted up with some course work. I think the motive behind offering these qualifications is to bring in big fees from professionals, who are an untapped source of income in many university departments. Business schools make a fortune offering MBAs, so education departments will also want to get in on the action.

    If you're looking for an academic job, this qualification is no match for a PhD. If you have a job, however, it might benefit your career in some way. An awful lot of work goes into some M.Litts and I think they're actually undervalued as a degree. It's not a bad idea repackaging them as something more useful.


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