Pushing for all academics to have a doctorate would be ¡°undesirable¡± given the relevance of professional experience in many subjects, despite the benefits of the increasing numbers of UK staff holding a PhD, an expert said.

Malcolm Tight, a professor of higher education at Lancaster University who wrote a key paper a decade ago raising concerns about the low numbers of academics with a PhD, said it would probably become the ¡°norm and expectation¡± that most staff in multidisciplinary universities had such a qualification.

However, the practical and professional slant to many subjects meant other qualifications could sometimes still be of ¡°greater relevance¡±, while smaller and specialist institutions may continue to look different?from broad-based institutions in terms of numbers holding a PhD.

The issue of whether academics should have a PhD has bubbled to the surface again after an accountancy lecturer?won an employment tribunal?case over a university¡¯s insistence that he should study for a doctorate.

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Jonathan Duxbury successfully claimed he was unfairly dismissed by the University of Huddersfield, which brought in a policy in 2013 that all full-time permanent staff should have ¨C or be studying towards ¨C a doctorate as well as other teaching qualifications, a strategy that?it previously said?had raised standards.

The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show Huddersfield saw the biggest leap in share of full-time academics with a PhD over the five years to 2019-20, from 61 per cent to 80 per cent, but most institutions have been moving in a similar direction.

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Twenty other institutions saw the share of full-time staff with a PhD rise by 10 percentage points or more over the period.

Two-thirds of providers in the sector now have at least half of academics qualified to this level, with the overall proportion of full-time staff with a doctorate now at 69 per cent when those with an unknown qualification level are excluded.

Although Professor Tight?suggested at the time of his 2012 paper?that the share of academics with a doctorate should be higher, he said seeking 100 per cent coverage in the sector may not be the best situation, either.

¡°I think this would be undesirable. Many ¨C arguably most ¨C subjects/disciplines now found within the university¡­have a strong practical or professional orientation,¡± he said, with many lecturers working in industry alongside their university role.

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¡°In those roles, other qualifications, or more generally experience, are of greater relevance. Also, with more academics now in teaching-focused roles, other kinds of qualification are more relevant for them as well. We may move to a situation where the diversity of academic roles is more valued.¡±

David Green, vice-chancellor at the University of Worcester, one of the minority of universities where?less than 40 per cent of full-time academics have a PhD, said it did have posts that required a doctorate but relevant experience was emphasised in other cases.

¡°Worcester¡¯s student composition is 30 per cent health professionals¡­and 25 per cent education. In these areas, lecturers must be qualified, experienced professionals as well as scholars and educators. Often they are also researchers, but not always,¡± he said.

Michael Young, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Sunderland, another institution still with a relatively low share of staff holding a doctorate ¨C 35 per cent of full-time staff in 2019-20 ¨C also said PhD requirements were decided on a ¡°case-by-case basis when a new post is introduced¡±.

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¡°There is no policy that requires existing staff to take a PhD. However, there is considerable demand for this opportunity from our staff and currently we have over 60?academic staff enrolled on a PhD programme,¡± he said.

simon.baker@timeshighereducation.com