PhD in Business Administration
The Ph.D. program in Management and International Business at the University of Oklahoma is a research-intensive program, designed to prepare students to conduct quality research and succeed in academia. With this in mind, our program emphasizes close working relationships between faculty and students, helping students develop a deep understanding of management scholarship, conducting high-quality research aimed at top journals, and being an active member of the scientific community.
Currently, the division has nine full-time research-active faculty members, including:
Division Director Mark Bolino along with Bret Bradley, Inn Hee Gee, Christina Li, Shawn McClean, Oleg Petrenko, Margaret Shaffer, Troy Smith, and Trevor Watkins.
Our faculty is an active group of collaboratively minded scholars whose work has appeared regularly in premier outlets such as the Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology. Several members of our faculty also fulfill major editorial roles in these and other premier outlets.
The Ph.D. program in Management and International Business is a full-time, fully funded, in-person program that gives students considerable flexibility in pursuing their own personal research interests. As such, students are free to pursue a variety of management research topics relating to organizational behavior, human resource management, and international management.
Admitted students are provided with a full tuition waiver, a highly competitive funding package, and financial support for research and professional development; funding is available for up to five years in the program.
Program Structure
The program is comprised of two distinct phases. The first two years of the program are dedicated to coursework, wherein students will be exposed to research relevant to their specific discipline. During this stage, students will take seminars from renowned experts in their respective fields—both inside and outside of the Division. These courses are not only focused on consuming research, but also are designed to prepare students to conduct their own research by providing training on research methods and statistics. In addition, students will complete a second-year research paper with the goal of developing students’ own research profile.
Upon completing their coursework, students will complete a comprehensive examination (typically following their second year in the program). This written and oral examination serves as the culmination of the student’s coursework to date and asks them to integrate various literatures and topics.
After completing the comprehensive examination, students then progress to the second stage of the program. The primary point of emphasis for this stage of the program is the completion of the student’s dissertation—a piece of research driven and executed by the student under the close supervision of a faculty member and the student’s dissertation advisory committee.
During this stage of the program, students will also gain valuable teaching experience, aimed at preparing them to be a well-rounded member of academia. The standard teaching load for Ph.D. students in the program is three courses over the duration of their doctoral program.
How to Apply
Applications to the program are reviewed beginning on January 15. To apply, please apply to University of Oklahoma Graduate Programs; a $50 non-refundable application fee is required ($100 for international applicants).
Recent Placements
- University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- University of Tulsa
- Kansas State University
- University of Nebraska
- University of Akron
- Oregon State University
- Oklahoma State University
- University of Alabama
- North Carolina State University
Current Students
- Priyanka Bhowmik
- Hannah Kamal
- Kyoungmin Lee
- Katie Onkst
Testimonials from Former Students
“The Management PhD program at Price College is transformational. The program is of course challenging, but combined with the collegiality and engagement of the faculty, it creates the perfect environment for learning how to conduct top-tier research and how to teach at the highest levels. When I graduated, I felt fully capable of succeeding as an Assistant Professor and beyond. To this day, I attribute much of any achievement I have in this field to the training and support I received at OU.”
Anthony Klotz (University College London; initial placement: Oregon State University)
“The Management PhD program at Price College of Business immersed me in research from day one. I had the opportunity to participate in research projects with my professors, attend conferences, and present my work to academic audiences. Being an international student, I had so many things to learn, but I always felt supported. In addition to the research training, I received excellent mentoring from my advisor and other faculty members. They helped me develop my research interests, provided me with guidance on how to navigate the academic job market, and even to this day are available for advice and support. The program is well-positioned to set doctoral students up for success, and I am grateful to have been a part of it.”
Maria Hamdani (University of Akron)
“One of the things that made my experience at OU outstanding was the personal attention from the faculty. Whether it was seminar discussions, conversations about research ideas, help with statistical analyses, or feedback on a project, I could tell the faculty at OU were personally invested in me has a future academic.”
Jaron Harvey (Utah Valley University; initial placement: University of Alabama)
“My journey in the Management Ph.D. program at the University of Oklahoma was exceptional. From the moment I joined the program, I was impressed by the level of support and guidance I received, and much of that credit goes to the faculty, staff, and fellow students. One of the aspects that sets the University of Oklahoma's Management Ph.D. program apart is the collaborative and supportive research environment. They encouraged collaboration among students, provided opportunities to work on joint research projects, and consistently pushed us to think creatively and critically about our research questions. As such, students learn firsthand what it takes to develop, design, and execute high-level research projects.”
Tom Kelemen (Kansas State University)
Contact Us
Academic-specific questions about the Ph.D. in Business Administration - Management and International Business specialization should be directed to the Division of Management and International Business Ph.D. program coordinator, Shawn McClean, at smcclean@ou.edu. General questions about the Ph.D. in Business Administration program admission requirements, such as GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL requirements, should be directed to the Ph.D. Academic Advisor, Calon-Nicole Gunter-Cox, at brandy.n.gunter@ou.edu.
