Why there are PhD programs in business schools?

Introduction:

Why do business schools offer PhD programs? Unlike science and engineering schools, which usually require a certain amount of labor to conduct experiments and efficiently operate labs, most business schools don’t have labs and thus don’t need students to perform lab work. This is why some top-tier business schools do not have Ph.D. programs. In addition, running a PhD program is expensive. Schools spend a lot of money on PhD students, including tuition, insurance, coursework and support for living expenses.

So what do business schools expect to take away from PhD programs? This’s an important question for PhD students. As a PhD student, you need to understand what the school expects from you and try your best to meet that expectation.

Student 1: I agree that extra labor in business schools is not as much needed as in engineering schools. But I would say we still provide labors to professors, being as a TA or a RA.

Student 2: I think PhD programs could benefit business schools in two ways. First, PhD students help business schools maintain their reputation by presenting at conferences or publishing papers. This benefit could continue even after they graduate. Second, having a PhD program contributes to sustaining the academic community as a whole; if no school offers Ph.D. degrees, there is no next generation of academics.

Student 3: Based on previous discussions, I think investing in a PhD program could be profitable to some extent.

Student 4: In my opinion, it’s not about profit or reputation. It’s about new ideas those students could bring in. Students may not be as productive as professors in terms of doing research. But students with different backgrounds usually have different thoughts. These different thoughts could potentially lead to new ideas and creative research topics. Cooperation between students and professors is beneficial for students as well as for professors and schools.

Student 5: Actually, having a PhD program is a good way to build research networks. Professors will have PhD students, each of whom could have their own students in the future. These mentoring relationships would help business school establish a broad network in academia field.

Comments from the professor:

I agree with most of the opinions. To be clear, we need Ph.D. students, but for a different reason. In my perspective, faculty members do not necessarily need PhD students to do data collection or basic research work. We could hire masters or senior undergraduate students to do such work.

Actually, what is expected from Ph.D. students is fresh idea,s new energy, and enthusiasm, all of which are more important to build a successful research program! New students could bring in new energy, new ideas, and new perspectives. They could lead our attention from academic fields to what’s going on in the outside world. From this view of point, PhD students are not expected to grow as a research assistant or a teaching assistant, but intellectual contributors and independent researchers. This is why we treat Ph.D. students as colleagues.

Another reason could be about the reputation. A good way for a business school to build reputation is to produce good Ph.D. graduates who are placed in top-tier research schools. We understand not all of you would end up in research schools or academic career. But our target is to train you as an independent researcher who can collaborate with faculty members, do your own high-quality research and publish in top journal in the future.