PhD in International Business and Subsequent Career

[Smartjump]

Hello guys (and girls :-)

First post here, just like to hear the opinion of the community.

I am thinking about applying and getting a PhD in International Business.

Reason: I want to switch careers and become a college professor. Nothing fancy, I'm not aiming at top research universities, but rather something like a decent regional colleges. Eventually I want to get a professor's position mostly focused on teaching, where I don't have to publish to earn my tenure.

So here is my first question: Does it make sense ? Do such opportunities exist ? Or you basically have to "publish or perish" in any type of full-time academic career ?

[doingfine]

Things to consider:

-Don't assume you fully understand research vs. teaching in the context of being a professor
-PhD is a 4-6 year degree specifically preparing you to do research, and not teaching
-You don't need a PhD to be an adjunct lecturer. Most schools don't want PhD students who aren't interested in research. MBA + tons of experience is a better track to become a lecturer
-There is a pretty significant difference in compensation, job security, and prestige between teaching and research oriented positions.
-There are some tenure track positions for teaching-oriented faculty out there, but there are pretty rare (and oftentimes they are easier to get if you do have a PhD and are at least a casual researcher for the purposes of maintaining accreditation)
-At most schools you will basically be treated well but not the same way as tenure-track research-oriented faculty

[stinkybeagle]

I have a BA and MA in international business and also teach it at the UG level. For a long while I was convinced that a doctoral program in IB was the way to go. After talking to several faculty members at different schools I concluded that it was not a good career move. First, a lot of b-schools are doing away with their IB departments because businesses no longer operate in a domestic versus IB world. Business is international! Also, saying you have a PhD in IB says nothing of your expertise. Is it the management side that interests you, economics, finance? You see where I am going with this. I think you should think about doingfine's response and if the PhD still interest you try to pinpoint exactly what interests about IB and get a phd in that. You can always tailor your research to have a strong Int'l focus. Good luck!

Hello guys (and girls :-)

First post here, just like to hear the opinion of the community.

I am thinking about applying and getting a PhD in International Business.

Reason: I want to switch careers and become a college professor. Nothing fancy, I'm not aiming at top research universities, but rather something like a decent regional colleges. Eventually I want to get a professor's position mostly focused on teaching, where I don't have to publish to earn my tenure.

So here is my first question: Does it make sense ? Do such opportunities exist ? Or you basically have to "publish or perish" in any type of full-time academic career ?

[rsaylors]

You will never get tenure at even a poor state university without publishing. AACSB has minimum requirements regarding publication that are required to maintain academic qualifications as a professor. They aren't excruciatingly high standards, but unless you publish a blind peer reviewed journal article every other year or so, you'll be drummed out of the profession rather quickly. This is a dead minimum for the lowest paying, highest teaching jobs that are tenure track.

This is a tenure track clinical faculty position (the person will teach four classes a semester!) and it still requires regular publication if tenure is going to be obtained.

Texas Christian University invites applications and nominations for the position of Professor of Professional Practice in Management in the Neeley School of Business beginning August 2012.

Description
Candidates will be responsible for teaching 12 hours per semester in the Department of Management, although the teaching load may be modified for other assignments. Candidates must possess an earned doctorate in management, or a closely related field and have relevant experience in teaching. An earned doctorate in the social sciences, if accompanied by high level executive experience, may also satisfy this requirement. Evidence of a strong track record and excellence in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels is important. Preference will be given to candidates with a proven track record in organizational behavior, leadership, human resource management, and general management. While research is not a major expectation of this position, preference will be given to candidates who can maintain “academically qualified” status under AACSB requirements. This person will also have service responsibilities such as curriculum/program development; university, school and departmental committees; career advising and placement; etc. The salary range is competitive and commensurate with qualifications.

As you can see, "publication for tenure" is intrinsic to the professor-package.

[Smartjump]

To doingfine:

Thank you for insightful response !
Well, I'm a bit puzzled by the focus the academic system puts on research.
Personally, I find it more interesting to help and to develop real people, rather than publish some obscure articles that would be read by 20-30 other academics, and then promptly forgotten. I have a Master's Degree in Economics, and, honestly, 70-80% of the peer-reviewed material that I've seen in Economics are too obscure and generally useless for practical purposes. Apart from journal reviewers, these materials are only read by few academics/grad students, and only because they have to read it (to write a paper/dessertation, etc). Only few very talented people can produce a material that really advances the science forward big-time. But that's just personal opinion :-) Or maybe situation is different in Business/Management field, I don't know...

But my goal is exactly as you described - to become a teaching-oriented Professor who is "at least a casual researcher".
But I still want to be a full-time, tenure track professor, not a part-time lecturer ( I can probably do that now with Master's Degree). And some PhD programs I've seen, they stress that their graduates get a teaching experience before graduation.
Also, I know that there are many small-to-middle colleges that are looking for that type of professors.

[Smartjump]

To stinkybeagle:
Interesting perspective. I think that for now my research interest centers on how company deal with/utilize the difference in culture/ethics between countries.
So I guess it would be something like Organizational Behaviour/Management specialization. Althgough I don't think I agree with what you said about IB. There are companies that are international, and there are lots of businesses that are purely domestic (even though part of their supply chain can be international).

[Smartjump]

Well, then I guess that before I get tenure I have to put more emphasis on publishing, and then focus more on teaching/consulting/etc once I get my tenure.
One more question: how long are professors' vacations ? Do you get couple months in the summer ?

[rsaylors]

Well, then I guess that before I get tenure I have to put more emphasis on publishing, and then focus more on teaching/consulting/etc once I get my tenure.
One more question: how long are professors' vacations ? Do you get couple months in the summer ?

Keep in mind that you'll be a major burden to your department if you fail to publish after tenure and while you may have a job for life you'll also be totally immobile with no ability to demand a raise. Just look at the 50+ year old associate professors that did exactly what you suggest and now teaches two hundred students a semester and makes 50k-60k a year while a newly minted phd is making double that. Inflation will eat away at your 'job for life' if you don't keep up, at-least, your academic qualification after tenure.

Again, if you are doing research over the summer then it's not vacation, so much as the ability to work six hours a day while taking a swim in the tahiti sunset when you're done. Remember the income disparity between old-tenure faculty and new hires? Inorder to keep up the quality of life that a tenured professor that doesn't publish expects he'll often take a summer teaching load so as to make up for the loss of income to inflation. But most professors are hired on a "9-month" basis with a some weeks off between dec and jan and three months off between may and aug.

Unless you can find something to research that intrinsically motivates you, you will not be very happy as a professor.

Also, the more your coligues dislike you because of the burden a non-qualified prof is to them, the more likely they are to figure out a way to drum you out. There are many ways to kill someone who's tenured, it's a bullet proof vest against political-assassination, not perfect armor.

That siad, if you can publish enough to stay relevant then you'll be fine.

[Indus]

@ Smartjump: posters above have raised important issue.

In my view, one should not do a PhD if one is not interested in research. PhD is a pain under best of circumstances. If you are not interested in research, it can become a serious career issue.

I would suggest that you rather do an MBA at one of the T20 schools (if possible); work for 10 years in relevant industries; rise up the executive ladder; and take an adjunct lecturer position in a business school on the side. Over time you can move on to a full time lecturer position, if you like it. You can aso do a part-time PhD as an executive if you prefer (case western / IE / St. Gallen). That will help you move to a teaching assistant professor position.

All the best!

[Smartjump]

Very good points, something to think about. But I did not say that I'm not interested in research - in fact i enjoyed several research projects while doing my masters, and enjoy learning (even in academic setting) in general. I just did not do large-scale long researches required for PhD dissertation or publishing. But I'm sure that even if I won't be madly in love with research, I will be able to publish 1 article per 2 years, as to maintain the minimal standards of the profession. I'm sure that there are topics interesting enough for me :-)

On the other hand, I talked with couple of my friends in academia, and they told me that here (in Canada) in the recent months they know of couple of colleges that are quite desperate to hire full-time professor to teach business disciplines, as long as they have a recongnized PhD and couple of publications. And it took these colleges quite some time to find suitable candidates, while salary was not that bad, something like 80-90K to start, with much more money available for qualified candidates.

So i think that if you look outside US (and I'm not even talking Asia, just Canada/Australia/etc), academic hiring is maybe less competitive. I heard several time that business professors (with PhD) are ones of the most demanded (and highest paid), since business disciplines make much more money for colleges and attract lots of students. So once you have a PhD in business from AACSB accredited school, it's virtually impossible to stay jobless, especially if you are not trying to get into top research schools (which I'm obviously not trying to :-)

Is it a correct view ?