We offer a PhD experience like no other! The PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship at the Michael F. Price College of Business focuses on learning to conduct cutting-edge research in entrepreneurship from day one by building a community that will last until you receive tenure (and beyond)! Our program has an excellent track record of preparing graduates to become professors at leading research universities across the world.
Our program is unique in (at least) two key aspects.
First, students will begin from day one working closely with faculty with the goal of publishing in top entrepreneurship journals. Previous students working with OU entrepreneurship faculty currently enjoy positions at research institutions such as Indiana University, Texas Christian University, Virginia Tech, and Old Dominion. Students regularly enter the job market having published in journals such as Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Family Business Review, and Leadership Quarterly, among other outlets. Such training allows students to gain competitive academic jobs and continue their research training to publish in the top entrepreneurship and general business outlets.
Second, our program is a four-year program. This is in contrast to many programs that regularly take five or six years to graduate students. We are able to accomplish this aggressive timeline by recruiting dedicated students that aspire to engage in scholarship from day one. To that end, our program promotes a close, mentorship-driven relationship between doctoral students and faculty members, geared toward creating a supportive environment for the fostering and development of scholarship and academic expertise. In addition, all students receive rigorous training in basic and advanced statistics and research methodologies.
In addition to the training that our students receive with regards to scholarly research, we also provide the skills necessary to excel within the classroom as well. Members of our faculty are highly renowned for their teaching expertise, and include the authors of several widely used management and entrepreneurial textbooks. Much like our approach to research, we employ a mentorship centered model with regards to teaching that has students beginning to work with faculty members in the classroom early on in the program. Furthermore, throughout their time in the the program students are required to teach relevant courses to help insure that they are equipped with the abilities necessary to become excellent teachers.
Most doctoral candidates are appointed to a research assistantship to encourage interaction with faculty members. In addition, many summer research opportunities are provided for students. Because of the full-time nature of the doctoral program, most students receive a tuition waiver, and receive a competitive annual stipend.
The requirements for the PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship involves doctoral coursework, a research requirement to demonstrate the ability to lead a research project, a General Examination that tests student mastery of key concepts, and the successful completion of a dissertation. Most adequately-prepared doctoral candidates should be able to complete these requirements in a four-year time period, especially if they have already earned an MBA degree. Students without an MBA degree can satisfy foundational knowledge in the areas of Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, and Economics in several ways.
The doctoral coursework involves 47 hours of required courses: 15 hours of statistics and research methods courses, 12 hours of seminars in Entrepreneurship, 9 hours in the area of Management and supporting areas, 9 hours of elective courses.
Each doctoral student is expected to become involved with research starting with the early days in the program. Our process differs from other approaches in that we facilitate an apprenticeship model where faculty and students work closely together from day one. Several of these papers have gone on to be published at top entrepreneurship journals.
As students advance in their knowledge and skills, each student will also engage in an independent research project during the second summer of the student's program of study. The second-year paper should make a theory-based empirical contribution to the literature in the student's field. An additional objective of this project is for students to publish their paper in a top-tier journal, although the paper does not have to be published for the student to receive a satisfactory evaluation on this requirement. A faculty member will supervise the research; however, the execution of all aspects of the project is the responsibility of the student.
Aaron McKenny
Assistant Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship
Indiana University
“As a doctoral student, your post-PhD trajectory is shaped in large part by the quality of your research. Not only does OU have top-shelf scholars to train you to produce quality research, the willingness of OU faculty to co-author research with students is readily apparent in their publication records and sets students up to become fellow thought-leaders in their field as well as any program can.”
After completing coursework and the research readiness requirement but prior to beginning the dissertation, each Entrepreneurship doctoral student must successfully pass a written exam covering their (1) major, concentration and elective coursework, (2) understanding of the Entrepreneurship and related Management research literature as represented in the doctoral course work and as approved by the Management and Entrepreneurship Division's Standing Divisional Doctoral Advisory Committee, and (3) capability to create and justify a research design given an assigned phenomenon to be investigated.
Upon successful completion of the General Examination, a Doctoral Advisory Committee is constituted to oversee the formulation, completion and evaluation of each Management and Entrepreneurship doctoral candidate's dissertation. The goal of the dissertation is to further develop independent scholarship that ultimately results in a publication at a leading research journal in the field of entrepreneurship.
Our graduates have been placed in jobs at Indiana State University, Texas Christian University, Louisiana State University and other prestigious institutions.
Tom Allison
Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Texas Christian University
Aaron Anglin
Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Texas Christian University
Rob Pidduck
Assistant Professor, Management
Old Dominion University
Shane Reid
Assistant Professor, Management
Texas State University
Ryan Bailey
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
University of Wyoming
In general, students should have a GMAT (or GRE equivalent) above 600 and a dazzling personality to successfully be admitted to the program. Interested students should feel free to seek more information by contacting the doctoral student advisor, Professor Matthew Wood at ms_wood@ou.edu
Before applying, students should read and familiarize themselves with research by OU entrepreneurship faculty to gain an understanding of the types of research commonly pursued by scholars at OU. Students are encouraged to reach out to research faculty (Tom Lumpkin, Keith Brigham, Russ Browder, and Matthew Wood) informally before making a formal application.
