Constructing Value at the Boundary: Executive DBA Graduates’ Narratives of Legitimacy and Identity
This study examines how Executive Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) graduates construct the value and legitimacy of the degree across professional and academic identity boundaries.
Executive DBA programs have expanded within AACSB-accredited business schools in the United States as part of a broader international growth in professional doctorates in management. While prior research has focused on program design, institutional rationale, and degree differentiation, less is known about how graduates themselves interpret the degree’s value and legitimacy after completion.
This qualitative study draws on semi-structured interviews with 20 Executive DBA graduates from three AACSB-accredited U.S. institutions. Data were analyzed through an interpretive thematic process involving iterative coding, cross-case comparison, abductive movement between data and theory, and reflexive memoing.
The study contributes a graduate-centered perspective to debates about professional doctorates in business by showing that Executive DBA value is constructed as epistemic, identity-based, and relational rather than solely outcome-driven.
Three themes emerged: (1) epistemic reorientation – graduates described “learning to think differently” through disciplined engagement with evidence; (2) legitimacy and boundary work – graduates positioned the DBA as distinct from, but not inferior to, the PhD; and (3) patterned ambivalence – graduates affirmed strong intrinsic value while acknowledging uneven external recognition and career outcomes.
Institutions offering Executive DBA programs should clearly articulate intended doctoral outcomes and provide structured post-graduation support to strengthen practitioner-scholar legitimacy.
Future research should further examine identity formation and legitimacy negotiation in professional doctorates, particularly through longitudinal and comparative designs.
By clarifying how experienced professionals integrate scholarly reasoning into practice, this study highlights the potential societal value of practitioner-scholar development in addressing complex organizational challenges.
Future research should examine Executive DBA experiences longitudinally, compare programs across national and institutional contexts, and explore how alumni support and labor-market conditions shape post-graduation legitimacy and perceived value.
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