Let’s be clear about the real doctoral faculty issue. It’s not about day-to-day recruiting challenges, escalating faculty salaries, adhering to accreditation standards, or protecting the professoriate. The real threat is to the very core of collegiate business schools and institutions of higher education—scholarship.

From the forward to Sustaining Scholarship in Business Schools Report of the Doctoral Faculty Commission to AACSB International’s Board of Directors 

As part of its review of recent changes in doctoral faculty education, AACSB staff consulted with regional experts on the state of global doctoral faculty production. The results indicate that there is a shortage of doctoral business school faculty throughout the world. Major PhD producing regions such as the U.S., Western Europe, Asia, and Australia have seen little increase in production while simultaneously experiencing significant enrollment growth. Developing regions such as China, Latin America, and Eastern Europe also have seen significant growth in business enrollments but have limited ability to produce new PhDs. Overall, the current structure of doctoral programs around the world is ill-equipped to address this shortage. Specific conclusions of this review include:

• There is little evidence that business schools in any region of the world are increasing their capacity to produce high-quality doctorally trained graduates.
• Significant increases in the number of business schools in developing regions of the world have impacted the demand for well-trained business faculty creating a global market for a resource already in short supply.
• Limited government financial support for doctoral education programs specifically, and higher education programs in general, has reduced the number of individuals opting to enter doctoral programs and increased the number of graduates choosing careers in industry. 
• Doctoral faculty programs have changed little in the past several years with most institutions relying on traditional U.S. or European training models that take four or more years to produce one graduate.
• There is a need for more flexible doctoral training programs to meet the demand from insufficiently tapped resources (such as mid-career professionals). 

AACSB Endorses Five Innovative Programs to Prepare Non-Business Doctorates for Business School Faculty Positions

In response to critical doctoral faculty shortages and rising enrollments in management education, AACSB International, the accrediting organization for business schools worldwide, announced its endorsement of “Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Programs” that prepare experienced and new doctoral faculty from academic disciplines outside of business for faculty positions in accounting and finance, marketing, management, supply chain management, international business, and entrepreneurship.

The five schools to offer these programs are the University of Florida (USA); University of Toledo (USA); Tulane University (USA); and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA).

For more information on these programs, visit: Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Programs. For program inquiries, please contact the school you are interested in attending directly.