The landscape of Professional Doctorate provision in English Higher Education Institutions: inconsistencies, tensions and unsustainability

Carol Robinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article reports findings from a recent research project, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which explored the current landscape of professional doctorate (PD) provision in English Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) (Mellors-Bourne et al., 2016). Given the absence of a clear definition by the Quality Assurance Agency in England, of the characteristics which distinguish PDs from practice-based doctorates and the Doctor of Philosophy, this paper makes a timely contribution through considering the inherent characteristics of PD programmes. The paper presents an overview of the state of play of PD programmes currently available in HEIs in England, highlighting how the proliferation of PD titles and programmes, and inconsistencies between the various programmes, has resulted in confusion around what PDs are, the contribution they make, and the value they add to professional practice. Consideration is given to the tensions created through the expansion in the number and types of PDs available and the implications of these tensions with regard to the future sustainability of PD programmes in general and, in particular, in relation to the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)90-103
Number of pages14
JournalLondon Review of Education
Volume16
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Mar 2018

Bibliographical note

© Copyright 2018 Robinson. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

  • Professional Doctorate
  • PD programmes
  • Professional Doctorate in Education
  • EdD
  • Viability of Professional Doctorates

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