The Doctor of Business Administration is a doctorate built for working executives — studied largely from home, anchored in your own professional practice.
For senior professionals, the traditional PhD has an obvious problem: it asks you to stop being a senior professional. The Doctor of Business Administration is the doctorate designed around that problem.
DBA and PhD — same level, different purpose
Both are Level 8 doctorates and both demand original research. A PhD is oriented to academic research; a DBA applies doctoral-level research to a real problem in your own professional practice, while you continue working. The title earned is a doctorate in both cases.
How the DBA is structured
A taught stage builds advanced research skills — methodologies, design, professional practice research — followed by a research stage: proposal, supervised study and a thesis defended at a viva. Delivery is typically block teaching plus supervised independent research, so attendance concentrates into short periods rather than a weekly commute.
Who it is for
Managers and executives with a recognised master's — often an MBA reached through the top-up route — who want their experience to produce something original. It is a serious multi-year commitment, and the right candidate knows the problem they want to solve before they start.
If that sounds like you, an advisor can talk you through current DBA options, entry requirements and realistic timelines.
