The PhD in Marketing at Beedie School of Business – Key Success Factors, Room for Improvement and Future Developments

Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)

Grant recipient: Leyland Pitt, Beedie School of Business

Project team: Theresa Eriksson, research assistant

Timeframe: May to December 2017

Funding: $6000

Final report: View Leyland Pitt's final report (PDF)

Description: Since the formal institution of a PhD program in the Beedie School of Business in 2005, in the marketing discipline specifically, the program has graduated eight doctorates. All of these have gone on to successful academic careers at good schools (including Babson College, King’s College London and Kent State University), and all have published many papers in excellent peer-reviewed academic journals. Until now there has been no consideration of, or investigation into, the primary factors that have driven the program’s success. Neither has there been any examination of the facets of the program that have been lacking, or that the students perceived as limitations or weaknesses. Furthermore, it is also time to consider what changes must be made, and the developments that will be taken into consideration in the future.

This TLDG project seeks to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Beedie PhD program in Marketing to evaluate what can be improved to enhance the learning for current and future students. This research will result in information that will be very useful to faculty and program management, as well as providing the information on which to base program design and implementation in the future to benefit student learning.

This project also seeks to benchmark the PhD in marketing program at Beedie against programs at Canadian schools of similar stature (such as Calgary, Manitoba, Ottawa) in order to be able to make comparisons between the Beedie program and programs at these schools.

Questions addressed:

• How does the SFU Beedie PhD program in marketing compare to programs at Canadian universities of equivalent stature to SFU (e.g. Calgary, Manitoba, Ottawa)?
• How do past Beedie Marketing PhD graduates reflect on their program?
• What were/are the most positive and negative aspects of the Beedie Marketing PhD program. Which aspects do students feel best and least prepared them for their current roles as academics with regard to research, teaching and service?
• What courses/activities did past graduates of the Beedie Marketing PhD program find most beneficial, both at the time of the program, and also in their current positions? Which specific courses/activities do students feel best prepared them for their current roles as academics with regard to research, teaching and service?
• What courses/activities did past graduates of the Beedie Marketing PhD program find least beneficial, both at the time of the program, and also in their current positions, especially with regard to their roles in research, teaching and service? Could these be changed in any way?
• Are there courses/activities that past graduates of the Beedie Marketing PhD program believe should be added to the program that would better prepare them for their roles in terms of research, teaching and service?
• Are there courses/activities that past graduates of the Beedie Marketing PhD program believe should be eliminated from the program?

Knowledge sharing: The project’s findings will be presented and discussed at a small informal seminar open to all Beedie faculty, specifically targeted at the Beedie PhD committee and doctoral administration staff. The report will be circulated on the ISTLD website for reference by other SFU colleagues.

Pitt, L. F., Eriksson, T., Ferguson, S. L., & Robertson, J. (2017). Preparing the marketing Phd graduate for the academic job market: Insights from a small program. Proceedings of the Society for Marketing Advances: Ethical Decisions in Lifestyle Choices, Louisville, KY.

Keywords: student success, program evaluation, PhD program, marketing, interviews