A Comparative Analysis of the Employment of Business Faculty With Ph.D.s and Those With D.B.A.s at Colleges and Universities in the University System of Georgia

Abstract

Although the Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees are classified as professional degrees and research degrees respectively, several institutions market the D.B.A. as a degree that prepares graduates for careers in higher education. The present study is a secondary analysis of publicly available data pertaining to faculty education in certain business disciplines within the 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia. The analysis indicated that of the 368 full-time faculty in the selected business disciplines, 32 held D.B.A.s while 336 held Ph.Ds. Results indicated that while the D.B.A. is a viable degree for those wishing to have a career as higher education faculty, the Ph.D. is still considered the preferred credential.