Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

In Canada, not unlike many other countries, most conventional university doctoral programs do not adequately prepare graduates for employment outside of academia, and yet the reality is that eighty percent of graduates will gain employment in the private and public sectors, outside of universities. In our particularly turbulent times of global and local dichotomies, market requirements require, more than ever, problem solving applied research skills from an interdisciplinary perspective. The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies has made innovation in doctoral programming a priority at its annual conference in each of the past three years. This paper will focus on the Canadian experience with particular attention to the development of new Doctor of Business Administration at Royal Roads University. Methods include a review of the literature on innovation in doctoral education, an analysis of existing evaluations of the Doctor of Social Sciences program at RRU using similar principles to the DBA, and preliminary analysis of initial BC university, government and private sector feedback on the DBA proposal. The implications of the work are to provide an analysis of a research-based doctoral program oriented to applied, interdisciplinary, business management research and to explore how students can independently develop original, impactful interdisciplinary applied research on the practice of management.