Critical Friends And The Evolving Terminal Degree

Doctoral level programs (known in the United Kingdom as “level 8,�? in Australia as “level 10,�? and within the European area’s Bologna Agreement as “third cycle�?) make possible an institution’s capacity to produce innovative research and new knowledge (Holley, 2013). The focus on innovative research fuels an emphasis on creativity in research, which Walsh, Anders, Hancock, and Elvidge (2011) juxtaposed against the focus on impact—especially in the “‘strategically important’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines�? (p. 1260). The current international policy debate on higher education and more specifically the doctoral program is delineated by two paths—the knowledge creation path and the knowledge incorporation path—both of which lead to the final destination of contributing to the knowledge-based economy. Our decision to juxtapose knowledge creation against knowledge incorporation dynamically recognizes the changing doctoral landscape and the evolving relationship between societal needs and doctoral programs