what is school's incentive to have PhD programs?

Fat_fish

I've been haunted by this problem for a long time since I decided to enter academic field. For non-science PhD program, accounting for instance, what is the incentive for a school to have it? They pay you a lot of money (5rys tuition plus stipend) and train you. Faculty spends a lot of time on you. Maybe you can do some TA or RA. But in the eye of faculty, those work is trivial compare to their spending. Moreover, in top schools, those obligations are even limited by fellowships. When you are done, you go to other schools, which is competitor for yourAlma Mater?

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-18 1:05:55编辑过]

cometqq

inexpensive labor force. hia hia

leighyao

First of all, competition is also a means of cooperation in academia.

Seconly, I think one of the missions for top business school PhD program is to "produce" future faculty in research universities which obviously have PhD program, while the one for lower tier schools is to "produce" future faculty in teaching schools. It is true in one sense.

While I talked to one professor at my current school, he said, "Every PhD program wants to do some research in the area it has strength. Obviously, faculty don't have that much time to explore every corner of this area, and then the task is on the PhD students' side".

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-18 1:52:58编辑过]

adii

one of the most important things for a PhD program is its product, namely the phd graduates. the placement reputation and academic infulence of alumni are the driver for their investment on phd students.

I do not think that faculty will recruit phd students only for RA or TA. One professor once told me that those work depends on your own need. Accumulating research exqerience and enhancing presentation skills are much more important than earning one's life.

Highwaystar

Adding productivity to the world.

adii

重新看自己的帖子,发现N多语法错误,不能忍了 55555

panorama

I have attended a business PhD recruiting fair last Oct. According to


what I learned, there are several driving forces behind this:






First and foremost, PhD education is critical to maintain the


scholarship of Business Administration as a serious academic


discipline. Without PhD and research, the Business Administration


discipline cannot sustain.




Secondly, there is a shortage of business faculty across the globe. It


is estimated that thousands more business professors are needed


worldwide in the next 10 years. This shortage was largely due to


previous neglection of business PhD education, which is a financial


burden on schools who would rather put their resources into their


cash-cow MBA programs.




Last but not least, PhD program is an important factor in business


school ranking, which in some ways might impact the schools' money


making MBA programs.




In short, my personal understanding is that, unlike PhD in Science and

Engineering, PhD in Business is meant for common good rather than

selfish, slave-labor style exploitations of some professors. Which is one of

the major reasons I chose to apply. All that said, hard work is still

critical because the pressure comes from the entire business research

community.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-18 6:54:20编辑过]

acongard

B-schools often consider Phd programs a cost, in sharp contrast to MBA programs. Why they assume this cost? Probably because this is their responsibility. But I would not be surprised if I heard somebody complained that the school cared more about the MBA program than the PhD program.