Declining student enrolments could see several UK and Irish universities close their professional doctorate programmes with overall growth in industry-focused qualifications “plateauing” in recent years, a report says.

Designed as an industry-engaged alternative to the PhD, professional doctorates allow candidates to focus on workplace challenges and apply their research in a practical setting. They are currently offered by about three-quarters of UK universities (101 in total) and 41 per cent of Irish higher education institutions (seven in total), having been embraced since the early 2000s.

However, the qualification’s popularity has waned in recent years, suggests a report published by the UK Council for Graduate Education and University Alliance, which represents the UK’s professional and technical universities, published on 9 July.

Drawing on 73 responses from universities in the UK and Ireland, the study found 45 per cent of those offering professional doctorates had seen enrolments increase in the past five years with 28 per cent indicating recruitment had remained flat.

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However, some 26 per cent of respondents state enrolments had fallen in recent years, “which may lead to programme closures”, says the report. Some 51 per cent of respondents said levels of enrolments on these courses were not meeting expected levels when the courses were developed, it adds.

Only two respondents suggested that they would be developing new professional doctorates over the next five years, the survey also found, which “indicates that there has been a levelling off in the growth of the number of professional doctorate programmes in recent years”.

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Noting how the number of programmes offered by UK and Irish universities had “plateaued” since 2011, “institutions are finding themselves in a position of having to make choices around the sustainability of their [professional doctorate] provision as part of wider considerations in a contracting higher education sector,” the report notes.

Conflicting views over whether professional doctorates are equivalent to PhDs may have also shaped institutional attitudes towards their provision, the report added.

According to the report’s survey, about two-thirds of institutions indicated their policies and governance practices did not differ between professional doctorates and PhD programmes, while 64 per cent said their assessment criteria were the same.

Nevertheless, the study found the “majority of respondents indicated that the perception of not having parity with the PhD was the main challenge in recruiting to and developing professional doctorates”.

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Similarly, research funding bodies also tended to favour PhDs over professional doctorates, the study adds, noting the majority of candidates are self-funded and only a minority receive employer or external support.

Urging policymakers to recognise the value of professional doctorates, University Alliance’s chief executive Vanessa Wilson described the qualification as “a valued and vital bridge between academic research and real-world impact”.

“They are uniquely placed to equip professionals with the advanced skills needed to drive economic growth, and to deliver the ambitions of the UK’s industrial strategy. However, they are being held back by outdated funding models and persistent misconceptions about their value,” she said.

“If we are serious about the value that doctoral study offers in terms of innovation, productivity, widening participation and lifelong learning, we cannot rely on a single doctoral pathway. We need a system that recognises and properly invests in professional doctorates as a key route for professionals to harness advanced research.”

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The report calls for clearer institutional strategies, with universities better articulating the purpose and value of professional doctorates to both employers and prospective students. More flexible and inclusive doctoral funding models should also be created and the qualifications should gain stronger recognition from funders and policymakers, it adds.

Calling for a “funding overhaul and a rethinking of the way professional doctorates are viewed within universities”, Owen Gower, director of the UK Council for Graduate Education, said professional doctorates were also important for widening participation in the postgraduate sector.

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“This report offers a golden opportunity to strengthen routes into doctoral education for those who may never have considered it, and to broaden the experience of candidates so they can better fulfil the needs of employers,” he said.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com