Posted on August 14, 2020 by Wendy Frost

The UTSA College of Business has launched a Pre-Ph.D. Pathway to increase students’ awareness of career paths to academe and to provide them with education and real-world training in the area of business research.

The curriculum will prepare students to pursue a doctorate or enter academia as a career.

Open to all undergraduate and graduate students at UTSA, the pathway is designed to provide students with outstanding training in business research, making them highly competitive candidates for top-rated Ph.D. programs in business and economics.

“Research plays an important role in many professions, but it is an integral and fundamental basis for academia, research and consulting. The goal of the pre-Ph.D. curriculum is to give students the tools upon which to build intellectual depth and vertical knowledge,” said Hamid Beladi, the Janey S. Briscoe Endowed Chair in Business and executive director of UTSA’s Pre-Ph.D. Pathway.

The three-course program prepares students by:

  • Providing the fundamentals of conducting research and how to create impactful research,
  • Pairing them with mentors who are experienced in the area of business research,
  • Offering real-world research experience through the ultimate presentation of their work at a symposium, and
  • Helping them apply to top-ranked Ph.D. programs at UTSA or other universities.

“The College of Business hopes to draw a diverse pool of candidates that might not otherwise join a doctorate program and help those students become highly successful,” stated Beladi.

As a university that promotes opportunities for success for all students, this pathway holds significant potential to address the national shortfalls in participation in doctoral programs among this vital constituency.

The College of Business Pre-Ph.D. Pathway is slated to begin in the fall semester.

— Wendy Frost