A European Code of Practice for Doctoral studies in Management and Business
Quality Development for Doctoral Education
Quality assurance is becoming of increasing importance in the management of research and higher education. While the Doctorate used to be a degree highly connected to the specificities of a national system for higher education, it is now becoming a diploma (and in some cases even a commodity) with international value and relevance for Universities and Business Schools across the globe. Markets, careers and research collaborations for Doctoral graduates are all increasingly international. This generates competitive pressures amongst Doctoral programs for attracting the best candidates and an urgent necessity to develop tools for quality assessment and improvement.
The main purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for quality practice and assurance in Doctoral education. As such, this document should be appreciated not as setting standards for ranking and the building of hierarchies but as proposing a toolbox for institutional and quality program development . Quality improvement of Doctoral programs can definitely enhance the research profile and reputation of any business school or university department. It is also a means of strengthening career opportunities for Doctoral graduates.
Europe has a long tradition in Doctoral education, with a great deal of diversity across national systems. As a European area for research and higher education has been taking shape over the last decades encouraged by the creation of both the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area, it is important to think about the conditions for compatibility and mobility across systems.
As both EIASM and EDAMBA are profoundly convinced of the benefits of diversity, we have tried to combine in these guidelines a respect for institutional and hence program diversity while pursuing common guidelines along seven key dimensions. It is the intention that this document could be used as a reference and a blueprint in European institutions as well as in institutions in other parts of the world to enhance the quality of Doctoral programs in Management and Business Studies.
LINK: A European Code of Practice for Doctoral studies in Management and Business