Pixel International Conferences

Students interested in pursuing doctoral degree can usually choose between studying full-time and part-time. Latter option is generally chosen by working professionals – employed career-focused individuals with specialized knowledge. However, their drop-out rate from such programs is considerable [1]. The problem is even more specific in maritime higher education sector where professionals working at seas are separated from universities for prolonged periods and therefore cannot often cope with demands of studying at doctoral level. Still, these working professionals carry substantial practical experience that, when paired with adequate scientific guiding, can be used to solve real challenges in the industry. This is why universities must find a way to retain these students at doctoral programs and help them face the challenges in their pursuit of postgraduate diploma. A possible solution, that hasn’t been used yet in maritime educational sector, is to provide a professional doctorate (Doctor of Engineering) over classical research doctorate (Doctor of Philosophy). In brief, Doctor of Philosophy is intended to develop “professional researchers” and Doctor of Engineering is designed to develop “researching professionals” [2]. This paper elaborates the need for professional doctorate in maritime sector putting special emphasize on foundations that such program needs in order to be successful: clear career focus, defined research type and focus, proper learning outcomes, adequate mode of study, blending of work and study and introducing distant learning. Research presented in this paper is built on a careful investigation of the leading doctoral curricula in engineering sciences, both professional and classical, critical review of the available literature on the matter and, finally, on independently recognized best practice of the authors who have been actively designing and managing doctoral programs along with mentoring doctoral students.

Keywords: doctoral program, professional doctorate, researching professionals, maritime higher education.

References:

1. Wollast, Robin et al. (2018). Who Are the Doctoral Students Who Drop Out? Factors Associated with the Rate of Doctoral Degree Completion in Universities. International Journal of Higher Education, 7, 143.
2. Mellors-Bourne, R., Robinson, C., Metcalfe, J. (2016). Provision of professional doctorates in English HE institutions. Higher Education Funding Council for England, pp. 83.