Preparing the New Professoriate: The Doctor of Arts Revisited

The authors identified foundational components of Doctor of Arts (D.A.) programs nationally through a content analysis of published program descriptions and a survey of dissertation activity. They then compared these components to Ernest Boyer’s revisions of graduate education proposed in Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Their findings suggest that Boyer’s revisions already operate in most schools that offer the D.A. The history and profile of this nontraditional degree offer insights about preparing a teaching professoriate for the next century.