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career_in_business_academia [2020/07/03 18:49] mwgorges |
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| Individuals considering a PhD in business may also be interested in an academic career in a related field, such as economics, sociology, or psychology. For this group, it is useful to compare the career of business school academics to other academics. | Individuals considering a PhD in business may also be interested in an academic career in a related field, such as economics, sociology, or psychology. For this group, it is useful to compare the career of business school academics to other academics. | ||
| - | {{:comparing_business_school_phd_to_social_science_phd.png?400|}} | + | {{:comparing_business_school_phd_to_social_science_phd.png?direct&400|Comparing Business School PhD to Social Science PhD}} |
| When making a comparison based on these factors, business school academic careers win out over other academics in social science fields in most scenarios. One important caveat to this hinges on your ability to do “fundamental” or “basic” research. Because business schools exist to support managers and leaders, there is an expectation that your research be somewhat “applied” and connected to the practice of management. More fundamental topics (such as understanding personality changes across the lifespan which falls into the realm of basic psychology, or studying the structural elements of a machine learning algorithm which falls into the realm of computer science) can often fall outside the scope of business school research. If you are interested in studying an important topic that does not fit within the umbrella of business, then you may be more fulfilled pursuing a PhD in another discipline. | When making a comparison based on these factors, business school academic careers win out over other academics in social science fields in most scenarios. One important caveat to this hinges on your ability to do “fundamental” or “basic” research. Because business schools exist to support managers and leaders, there is an expectation that your research be somewhat “applied” and connected to the practice of management. More fundamental topics (such as understanding personality changes across the lifespan which falls into the realm of basic psychology, or studying the structural elements of a machine learning algorithm which falls into the realm of computer science) can often fall outside the scope of business school research. If you are interested in studying an important topic that does not fit within the umbrella of business, then you may be more fulfilled pursuing a PhD in another discipline. | ||
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| In the comparison table above, we give industry careers a slight edge on the “impact” dimension. This begs the question: what type of impact do faculty members have on the world? | In the comparison table above, we give industry careers a slight edge on the “impact” dimension. This begs the question: what type of impact do faculty members have on the world? | ||
| - | {{:types_of_impact_a_business_school_professor_can_have.png?400|}} | + | {{:types_of_impact_a_business_school_professor_can_have.png?direct&400|Types of Impact a Business School Professor Can Have}} |
| The reason industry careers may be judged as more impactful is that most business academics are solo contributors. This means that unless their research is picked up broadly – which is relatively rare – they will not be able to leverage teams and organizations to extend their impact as their industry peers do. In general, the distribution of the impact of academia has a long right tail, with research from a few superstars having significant influence, and most academics not achieving widespread exposure. Academics can combat this limitation by teaming up with other researchers or by developing academic organizations to expand the impact of their work (for example, founding a research lab or an institute in their particular area of interest). | The reason industry careers may be judged as more impactful is that most business academics are solo contributors. This means that unless their research is picked up broadly – which is relatively rare – they will not be able to leverage teams and organizations to extend their impact as their industry peers do. In general, the distribution of the impact of academia has a long right tail, with research from a few superstars having significant influence, and most academics not achieving widespread exposure. Academics can combat this limitation by teaming up with other researchers or by developing academic organizations to expand the impact of their work (for example, founding a research lab or an institute in their particular area of interest). | ||