An Extramuros Portfolio Equivalent of the Traditionally Earned PhD

This essay ponders two interrelated questions: (1) whether extramuros accomplishments (i.e., accomplishments outside university walls) by scientists and engineers might rationally be viewed as the equivalent of a doctorate earned in the traditional way, and (2) where and how such equivalence may be recognized. Discourse begins with a brief review of the generic structure of the research doctorate, and continues with an examination of the specific structure of a STEM PhD at a large, land-grant university. The thesis that follows from this examination focuses on crossing thresholds. In particular, an argument is offered that a scientist or engineer working outside the university has clearly crossed the doctoral threshold with a discipline-appropriate master’s degree and two sole-author (or a larger plurality of first-author) peer-reviewed publications. Limitations of this argument are then proposed. Various thoughts taken from the literature are presented regarding these questions.