Students often ask me for advice about getting a Ph.D in marketing. Fundamentally, the questions are …
(1) Should I pursue a Ph.D.?
(2) What school should I attend to pursue a Ph.D.?
First off, just to be clear: a Ph.D. in marketing is not a “super MBA.” A Ph.D. in marketing is an academic degree, and its purpose is to prepare you for a career as an academic researcher. It’s certainly possible to do practitioner research after earning a Ph.D., but that’s over-training, and the degree is so costly (mostly in terms of the student’s time) that the incremental benefit gained by the degree could never be worthwhile. The only good career reason to pursue a Ph.D. in marketing is with a goal of entering academia as a marketing professor.
Second, let me lend my voice to an important issue: Academia needs better representation from the entire general population. If people like you are under-represented in academia — under-represented in whatever way that might be — then I especially urge you to consider earning a Ph.D. and becoming a marketing professor. We need you. When I say “we” need you, I’m speaking of the marketing department at BYU, but I’m also speaking of marketing academia in a broader sense. Our field is strengthened by people with different perspectives. If you’re different than most of the marketing professors who have taught your classes, then I’m talk to you! We especially need you.
Third, let me say that if you’re considering a Ph.D. because a professor’s life seems “cushy,” I promise you that’s an illusion. You know those little info cards that are posted outside a professor’s door that list only a few hours a week devoted to teaching classes and then only a few hours more for “office hours”? Those cards seem to suggest that professors only need to work about, what, 6 hours per week? Nonsense. I commonly work 60+ hours per week, and before I got tenure it was even more than that. I’m not unusual on that score. Don’t misunderstand me: I love my work, and I’m not complaining. But if you’re considering becoming a professor because it looks like an easy job that doesn’t require too many hours per week, I promise you’re looking in the wrong spot.
Fourth, when students ask me about getting a Ph.D., I’m not shy about describing the negative aspects of being in a Ph.D. program and then working as a professor. I’ve compared notes with other professors, and many have told me they do the same thing. My feeling is that the process itself is so difficult and grinding that if a little discouragement from a marketing professor is enough to dissuade someone from pursuing a degree, then I’ve done that person a big favor in helping them avoid it. In the book I describe below, there is a chapter mental health. That’s valuable because graduate programs are famous for stressing people out to the breaking point, and being a professor is sometimes just as bad. Here again, don’t misunderstand me: I love my work, and I’m not complaining. But if you’re considering becoming a professor because it looks like a low-stress job, I promise you’re looking in the wrong spot.
Fifth, regarding whether you would be interested in doing academic research, I suggest you read the latest issues of the field’s four top journals: the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing Science. Reading these articles is not an “intelligence test.” You probably won’t understand everything you read, and that’s okay; the marketing Ph.D. is designed to teach you how to do research like that. The purpose of this exercise is to see whether those topics would be interesting to you. You don’t need to find everything compelling. But if you get geeked up about any of the articles, and if your fascination makes you feel compelled to look up some of the articles that they cite, that’s a very good sign academic research might be for you!
Lastly, I urge anyone considering a Ph.D. in marketing to read this book:
Available at Amazon
The book’s title seems to suggest the Master’s degree receives a lot of attention, but as near as I can tell that mention in the title is merely to broaden the book’s appeal. The book is squarely about the Ph.D. degree. The first 11 chapters are an in-depth discussion of the issues you should consider when making the big decisions of whether to pursue a Ph.D. and where to do it.
I read this book before I chose to pursue a Ph.D., and I found the advice to be 100% spot on. So, I recommend this book every time someone asks me about pursuing a Ph.D. The author of the book is not a marketing professor, but that doesn’t matter. The principles he covers apply across all fields.1 As a matter of fact, over time I have been consistently amazed by how similar the dynamics of academia are across different disciplines. The minor details vary among fields, but the major dynamics are consistent across fields. For example, pursuing ambitious, ground-breaking research is risky in the sense that it might not pan out, and that’s true no matter what field you’re in. My point is that you shouldn’t let the fact that Robert Peters did his Ph.D. in fish behavior dissuade you from applying his insights to a Ph.D. in marketing. All the fundamental principles still apply.
I hope that helps. Good luck!
– Eric DeRosia
1 Well, let me qualify that a little bit. I think the principles Peters describes in his book apply to all research oriented fields. But the principles might not apply to professors that produce creative works, such as dance professors. I’m not throwing shade at such professors. Long live creative works! I’m only saying that the issues of academia might be so different for them that the principles in the book don’t apply.