PhD After MBA In USA

Education is a five-course meal with PhD as the ultimate dessert at the end of it all. Having said that, not all fields of study have had a long history of crowning a doctorate degree. It has traditionally been the highest degree in the sciences, and social sciences.

Somewhere in the middle of the previous century, though, business schools began to switch their focus from a purely vocational bend towards research oriented training, leading to what we now know as PhD in business, or management.

However, if you were to compare the share of Management PhDs in the US, for instance, with PhDs from other fields, the number is far from stellar, though marginally growing with each year. The picture below summarizes the rising number of Business Doctorate recipients between the years 1986 – 2016, as per NSF.gov. The corresponding percentages reflect the share of doctorate holders with respect to the total number of doctoral graduates.

For instance, in 2016, 22.9% of the total 54,904 doctoral recipients graduated with a PhD in Life Sciences, while Business Management PhDs accounted for only 2.8% of the entire body of Dr. XYZs graduating that year.

Higher studies often encompass the decision of pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s and then, if you feel like delving deeper into your chosen field, a doctorate degree. When it comes to the vast domain of commerce, a PhD is commonly chosen by those wanting to explore the academic arena. Working professionals don’t usually opt for a PhD given the extensive amount of time it demands and also because it has more of academic use. So, if you have recently completed your Master of Business Administration, choosing a PhD might require some thinking to finally arrive at the right decision. This blog aims to elaborate what a PhD after MBA entails and how it can advance you further in your career journey.

Why Pursue PhD After MBA?

As the highest academic degree in theoretical disciplines, a PhD or Doctorate of Philosophy is perfect for those seeking a greater depth of knowledge in a specific area of interest. Going for a PhD after MBA can be beneficial for a plethora of reasons, some of which are given a rundown below:

Passion for Research

To begin with, a PhD is research-extensive by nature and demands individuals to submit their original thesis to reach the conclusion of this degree. It challenges scholars to break away from the limited amount of knowledge of their field and delve deeper into whichever specialization they have chosen to study. So, a PhD after MBA would importantly require you to be passionate about research, having an innate curiosity towards your field and ready to devote yourself for a longer period of time to your thesis.

Inclination Towards Academic Arena

Another reason why many graduates aspire for a PhD after MBA is when they are planning to make a career as an academician. Since one needs to exhaust many years to this degree, you can pursue the profile of an assistant professor at the university itself while getting mentored for your research thesis. Further, completing a PhD, you would be deemed eligible for the position of a professor at an academic institution though some universities or colleges might demand you to qualify a teaching exam.

Gives You An Edge in the Business World

Though many would tell you that with a PhD after MBA you can only ground yourself in the academic world, this is actually not the case in reality. If you don’t see yourself fit the position of a lecturer or a professor, you can explore varied prospects in the corporate sector. A doctoral degree in a business or management specialisation imparts you with a deep-embedded and insightful knowledge of the commercial world while an MBA also gives you a unique and practical glimpse of this domain and the combination of these two can be potentially utilised by opting the role of a consultant or analyst for entrepreneurial ventures, business giants or even hedge funds and investment-related firms.

PhD After MBA: Specializations Offered

In Business and Management, there is an array of specialised PhD courses that one can choose from. Some of the major areas of specialization for PhD after MBA are enlisted as follows:

Eligibility

Though the specific prerequisites might vary from one university to another, there are some general criteria for PhD after MBA or any other postgraduate program that every candidate needs to fulfil. The primary requirement is that of a master’s degree in the related discipline (from a recognised institution) in which one is applying for a doctoral degree, if you are applying for a PhD in Business Administration, you need to have completed a postgraduate course like, MBA, MIM, amongst others. Along with these, you will be required to submit the following documents:

• English proficiency test scores such as IELTS, TOEFL, etc.
• SOP and LORs
• GRE or GMAT scores
• An Updated Resume or CV
• Academic Transcripts

Top Universities

Numerous renowned business schools and universities across the globe offer specialised PhD programs in varied fields of Business, Commerce and Management. To help you further in your research, we have listed down some of the major academic institutions that are internationally popular for their offered specialised courses for those aspiring to pursue a PhD after MBA:

What kind of specializations are available to PhDs in Business?

PhD in Business Management, or its close kin Doctor in Business Administration (Harvard HBS), follows a variety of areas of study, often in collaboration with other departments. Some of those specializations are listed below (gathered from various b-school curricula, viz. Stanford GSB, Wharton, HBS).

• Accounting: Research focuses on solving issues, related to accounting, using economics, decision theory, and statistical inference.
• Business Economics: This specialization combines economic analysis with business. The areas of focus may range from Behavioral Economics, Development Economics, Urban Economics, Risk Management, Economic Analysis & Policy, Organizations & Markets, Corporate Governance, and more.
• Finance: Research focus, such as in Wharton, is set on Asset Pricing, and Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, International Finance, Macroeconomics, etc.
• Marketing: Research focus lies on solving marketing management issues faced by companies. Areas of study usually involve behavioral decision making, economics, industrial organization, statistics, management science, and more.
• Operations, Information & Technology: This area of research, such as in Stanford GSB, studies management of systems, processes, and networks. They include health care systems, product design, manufacturing, information systems, decision-making, operations management, etc.
• Organizational Behavior: Research on concepts of psychology and sociology and their impact on behavior within complex organizations.
• Management: The specialization deals with management and leadership challenges.
• Strategy: Research studies the heart of what sustains and develops industries with competitive advantage.

The above list is not exhaustive and every b-school tailor their research target to set their competitive edge, so to speak. The other common specializations include, Ethics & Legal Studies, Health Care Management, Applied Economics, Decision Sciences, Human Resource Management, and more.
 

Employment Options of Business PhD Graduates

While a majority of doctoral graduates find positions as faculties in reputable business schools, a fraction of them carry on in post-doctoral studies or head towards industry positions. Firms like McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, SEC, and more, are known to hire PhDs regularly.

Nearly 80% of graduating doctoral students are employed as faculty members in various business schools over the world, with the rest 20% employed in various industry positions. We have compiled the following table to reflect the employers of past PhD candidates from reputed business schools, mainly Wharton, HEC Paris, and Chicago Booth.