Writing on the wall for theses

Universities have been asked to consider reviewing their PhD programmes in the light of new evidence showing that the traditional thesis-based approach may be out of date.

A UK Council for Graduate Education survey has identified 13 key issues which, it says, higher education institutions may wish to consider in relation to the structure of their PhD programmes, with particular relevance to PhDs awarded on the basis of published work.

The survey concludes that institutions ought to consider merging traditional thesis-based PhD programmes with programmes which allow doctorates to be awarded to students whose theses are based entirely on work previously published in journals and books. The latter route, although not popular, is often preferred by those in full-time employment.

The council's report, published this month, concludes: "Differences in the composition of the candidate's thesis via the two routes calls into question the current relevance of a traditional thesis . . . to the candidate's future career as a trained researcher for whom the recognised symbol of success is high-quality, refereed publications."

Keith Wilson, director of research at the University of Hertfordshire, surveyed all 107 of the council's member institutions last November. Of the 73 replies, 39 were old universities, 24 were new universities and ten were higher education colleges. Published work PhDs were awarded in just over half the institutions: 18 (46 per cent) old universities, 16 new universities (67 per cent) and three (30 per cent) colleges.

There seemed to be no obvious rationale among the old universities for awarding the published work degrees. Cambridge, for example, offered the published work route but not Oxford. New universities not only displayed a much greater commitment to published work awards but were also more uniform in setting and applying the regulations governing such PhDs.

The report says: "At a time when there are considerable national pressures to encourage greater academe-industry collaboration in research, it does seem anomalous that the published work route may not be recognised by some institutions as appropriate submission for a PhD."