Doctoral Education: Present Realities and Future Trends

Graduate education has played an important role in developing the human capacity necessary to lead the increasingly technological and knowledge-centered economies of the last and present centuries (Antony & Knaus, 2002). Specific forms and programs of graduate study vary in length and scope, from master’s degrees to first professional degrees to the Ph.D.—the pinnacle of most any large and complex higher education system. For a variety of reasons, this chapter focuses mainly on the Ph.D. degree, the research-oriented doctorate, and not on the increasingly important professional doctorates such as the doctor of business administration (DBA), the doctor of law (JD), the doctor of education (Ed.D.), and others, although some attention will be paid to these degrees.