Educational Leadership, Ph.D. at University of South Florida

The Ph.D. in Educational Leadership degree program is designed for those individuals who intend to build an academic career focused on conducting research and analysis in the multidisciplinary field of educational leadership and policy studies, or who wish to build an administrative career focused on innovative and inquiry-based leadership. Accordingly, this program will prepare individuals for careers in K-12 education systems, research universities and teaching colleges, as well as private, non-profit, state, federal, or international educational agencies.

Individual students will work alongside distinguished faculty with expertise in multiple fields including: ethical leadership, curriculum and pedagogy, politics of education, education law, organizational theory, equitable education reform, school accountability and choice policies, and anti-oppressive education. The program is designed to provide students exposure to research and academic discourses in organizational leadership, curriculum leadership, and policy leadership in education. In addition, students will gain knowledge around research methodologies and a specialized cognate area of study.

Students in this degree program will design an individualized program of study that reflects their specific research interests. This will prepare students to conduct and apply high quality research to practice, write and present scholarly papers at professional conferences, and submit research articles for publication in education journals.

Initial advising, from inquiry about the program through the first year of coursework, is provided by the Doctoral Program Coordinator. By the completion of the second year of study, students will select a major professor who will assist them with planning their remaing course of study. By the end of the third year, students will assemble an advisory committee consisting of the major professor and at least three other members. This committee guides the student through the dissertation process, including the qualifying examination, dissertation proposal, and dissertation defense.