Ph.D. in Marketing
Program information
The University of Kansas doctoral program in marketing aims to prepare students for academic careers at tier 1 research universities. Faculty members closely supervise doctoral students pursuing their doctorate in one of the two tracks offered: consumer behavior or quantitative.
Each student is assigned an academic advisor, who guides the student in course selection and other general academic requirements. Students will begin to collaborate with faculty members on research projects early in the doctoral program, enabling them to have more than one paper under advanced review at premier marketing journals as they begin the job search in their penultimate year in the program.
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Research
The marketing department has young and dynamic faculty, dedicated to producing high-quality research that is published in top-tier marketing and interdisciplinary journals. Students will begin to collaborate with faculty members on research projects early in the doctoral program.
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Teaching
Part of our mission is to develop effective teachers. To that end, all doctoral students are required to teach at least two sections as independent instructors. The school and university prepare and reward doctoral students for excellence in teaching through various programs and awards.
Program details
Area of concentration
Each aspirant, with the assistance of his or her faculty advisor and the area faculty, selects an area of concentration.
The area of concentration is selected from the traditional business disciplines of accounting, analytics, information, and operations, finance, human resource management, marketing, organizational behavior, and strategic management. An aspirant may also propose an interdisciplinary area of concentration that is a combination of these disciplines or include emphasis such as international business, law, and economics.
The aspirant must take at least five advanced courses in the area of concentration. These courses may include those offered outside the School of Business.
Supporting areas
Coursework in the area of concentration is supplemented and strengthened by study in one or two supporting areas. A supporting area is one that supplements and complements the area of concentration.
The aspirant will satisfy the supporting area requirement by taking at least four advanced courses in the supporting areas (at least two courses in each of two supporting areas, or at least four courses in one supporting area). Courses recommended for preparation for the qualifiers may not be included in satisfying the supporting area requirement.
Research methodology
For successful qualifier assessment, the student’s program of study should include adequate preparation in research methodology.
Sound research is always grounded on sound methodology. A doctoral student in marketing has the opportunity to develop methodological skill in probability and statistics, optimization, uncertain reasoning, game theory, and econometrics. A typical doctoral dissertation often utilizes one or more of the following research methodology: empirical, analytical, behavioral, and computational.
Year 1
- Coursework
- Research
Year 2
- Coursework
- Research
Year 3
- Comprehensive exams
Year 4
- Dissertation proposal
Year 5
- Dissertation defense
Some students can complete the program in four years.
