Hi Luke, 

The PhD is a research degree and not a certification of practice. The liability incurred in decisionmaking is not a matter of ineffective research, but is always contextual and a matter of domain knowledge in which design is applied. Like engineering or medicine, the advanced education is not the guarantor of effective decisions or outcomes, but the licensure is a professional certification. 

The PhD MD is often a physician who practice research and does not practice medicine, and they are not always licensed to practice. 

In engineering, the PhD degree is not typical - we call that science (materials science, computer science) and not engineering, usually, but not always.  In similar ways, one can acquire a JD degree but if you don't pass the Bar or have the required certifications to practice law, you will not be in the position to provide consequential advice.

So if design wishes to enforce a certification it really needs to be within bodies of practice, like the Colleges of Medicine and Bar Associations. These are not universal, as each country, and each province and state, set these up for their systems of law and code, and insurance. 

Where in the PhD would we even teach this? They don't teach this in medical PhD, that's done in residency. So perhaps practicing designers at least need to have a residency - but that's not a PhD function.

These are just some first thoughts on the question, there is a lot more we all could say. It's not a small issue. I was trained in human factors psychology (engineering applications) and was known to be against the creation of certification for CPHFE - certified professional human factors engineers - when this program started up. I was part of the community of practice and close to the decisions on this. Not that I had any sway, but I advised against it becoming a formal institutor.  Because once you set it up, it has to become institutionalized, or it's a half-hearted and could become an add-on adjunct to your own self-supporting bona fides. A certifying test does not qualify one's ability to make good practice decisions in real world contexts.

Regards, Peter

PETER JONES, PH.D.
FACULTY OF DESIGN
OCAD UNIVERSITY, TORONTO 


Date:    Sat, 28 Jan 2023 10:15:48 +0000
From:    Luke Feast <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Is a design phd a licence?

Greetings,

I've seen it written that a PhD is a licence to work at a university. But what is a licence and what is it for?

Licensure protects the public by excluding people who cannot show some level of competence in a domain of skill, knowledge, and judgement (Kane, 2013, p. 20). For example, a driver's licence should protect the public by excluding people who cannot show a level of competence in a limited set of critical driving skills, knowledge, and judgment. And there's a legal penalty for driving on public roads without a licence.

Licensure also grants permission to an individual to engage in a restricted profession. Anyone can design a house, but only licensees can call themselves licensed or registered architects, builders or structural engineers. 

What if the design PhD was a license? How could it improve safety and protect the public? 

The design PhD could protect the public against failures, ignorance, orthodoxy, and unethical research. Then what do design PhD students need to show to achieve this purpose? They would need to show competence in a limited set of critical skills, knowledge, and judgement for the ethical and methodical search for new knowledge.

A design PhD is not a licence and there is no legal penalty for practising design research without a PhD. But it seems somewhat useful to think about the design PhD as a licence, because it guides us to consider what is the design PhD's purpose, to clarify the real-world contexts that PhD graduates work within and the real-world skills, knowledge, and judgment they need.

Regards
Luke

Luke Feast, Ph.D.


Kane, M. T. (2013). Validating the Interpretations and Uses of Test Scores. Journal of Educational Measurement, 50(1), 1-73. doi:10.1111/jedm.12000


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Date:    Sat, 28 Jan 2023 18:57:57 -0300
From:    Imara Duarte <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Is a design phd a licence?

Dear,

From my obscure and irrelevant place, I believe that just like architects, engineers, doctors, drivers, they are civilly and criminally responsible for their failures; if a PhD student in Design and his supervisor are willing to bear civil and criminal charges [if that is not the case already] for the physical damage and financial losses that the professional exercise of a designer may cause to third parties, I do not see why we cannot obtain this license.
If we do research in the medical area, a license *with some characteristics of this area* would be interesting, as well as research in construction, architecture, food, marketing, etc..
all onus and bonuses of the area it faces.

[ Returning to irrelevance... ]
Best regards,
Imara [only]

Em sáb., 28 de jan. de 2023 às 07:16, Luke Feast <[log in to unmask]>
escreveu:

> Greetings,
>
> I've seen it written that a PhD is a licence to work at a university. 
> But what is a licence and what is it for?
>
> Licensure protects the public by excluding people who cannot show some 
> level of competence in a domain of skill, knowledge, and judgement 
> (Kane, 2013, p. 20). For example, a driver's licence should protect 
> the public by excluding people who cannot show a level of competence 
> in a limited set of critical driving skills, knowledge, and judgment. 
> And there's a legal penalty for driving on public roads without a licence.
>
> Licensure also grants permission to an individual to engage in a 
> restricted profession. Anyone can design a house, but only licensees 
> can call themselves licensed or registered architects, builders or 
> structural engineers.
>
> What if the design PhD was a license? How could it improve safety and 
> protect the public?
>
> The design PhD could protect the public against failures, ignorance, 
> orthodoxy, and unethical research. Then what do design PhD students 
> need to show to achieve this purpose? They would need to show 
> competence in a limited set of critical skills, knowledge, and 
> judgement for the ethical and methodical search for new knowledge.
>
> A design PhD is not a licence and there is no legal penalty for 
> practising design research without a PhD. But it seems somewhat useful 
> to think about the design PhD as a licence, because it guides us to 
> consider what is the design PhD's purpose, to clarify the real-world 
> contexts that PhD graduates work within and the real-world skills, knowledge, and judgment they need.
>
> Regards
> Luke
>
> Luke Feast, Ph.D.
>
>
> Kane, M. T. (2013). Validating the Interpretations and Uses of Test 
> Scores. Journal of Educational Measurement, 50(1), 1-73.
> doi:10.1111/jedm.12000
>
>
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