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I haven’t yet read Dr Biden’s dissertation (my Proquest access has changed since I last used it...hopefully today or tomorrow), but a few quick thoughts on the meta narrative happening right now...from an EdD working at a CC (1/n)
The EdD is the degree of a scholar practitioner. This is a degree steeped in taking knowledge and putting it into the field. It’s the best example of Boyer’s alternative forms of scholarship (not just discovery but teaching & learning, engagement and integration) (2/n)
Quick aside - I did a podcast series on this whole thing back in 2018 that has some awesome EdTech voices...take a listen http://emergentscholar.info/edutechnicalities.html (2a/n)
I am a proud EdD recipient. There are two reasons why I sought and received that degree. First, that scholar/practitioner aspect is vital for people engaged in the profession (like CC professors). Abstract -> Concrete -> Abstract and all that (3/n)
But also, historically it is the most equitable degree available. Yes, mine is from Pepperdine, so that’s not a cost equity place. But it was designed to work with and within a working professional’s life and career (4/n)
There was no PhD option for someone with a family and a full-time job. My EdD not only scheduled around the work day, but every course and almost every project was designed to apply the course knowledge to my particular contexts (5/n)
(Pause to go back to that CC career right now...because it doesn’t wait for thinkpieces)
At end of coursework we utilized a capstone in lieu of oral exams specifically b/c applied aspect. This did not mean my advancement to ABD was easier; I would argue it was harder because I had to seamlessly incorporate 80% of coursework into a project that was field-ready (6/n)
And then I wrote a dissertation. The process was no different than any social science dissertation, with exception that we were encouraged to approach Boyer’s scholarship framework...but even there, to do a non-discovery diss meant you had to justify in writing the rigor (7/n)
(If you are curious about my bona fides, here’s my dissertation https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/443/ I also broadcast the defense live on DS 106 radio) (7a/n)
Another job break, this one longer...end of the semester my foot
Anyway, the EdD made the most sense for a degree related to teaching & learning. Did I consider a PhD? Sure, but the only argument for a PhD was some people wouldn't sneer at it. (8/n)
EdD programs involve research, theory and knowledge construction. Scholarship is a significant part of the work, in contexts of discovery and beyond. The scope relates to the application in contexts of learning re: environmental & population changes. (9/n)
So in many ways the EdD is the ideal degree for a practitioner in a community college setting. CCs exist to bridge environments and contexts for diverse populations...come to a common place, learn, and take back to your particular context (10/n)
Over 40% of college students were CC students in 2017-2018, and in 2015-2016 49% of bachelor graduates during that time had been enrolled in a community college https://nscresearchcenter.org/snapshotreport-twoyearcontributionfouryearcompletions26/ (11/n)
CCs are regularly the most prolific minority-serving institutions in the US, as well as leading the service of first-generation, low-income and students with disability. (12/n)
The CC-as-lesser trope is common societally, much b/c it's low-hanging fruit for late-night talk show hosts turning 4x monologue in a week. The higher education visage of America is more CC than Ivy League, but you wouldn't know that from mass media https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-sep-29-me-college29-story.html (13/n)
To Dr. Biden, I have not read the dissertation (need to get it via ProQuest unless anyone has a link on ResearchGate?), but Jeff Young gives a summery over at EdSurge https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-11-20-what-jill-biden-s-dissertation-reveals-about-her-approach-to-higher-education (14/n)
It's a noble topic and, from this look, had impact with the right people - Syracuse's Vincent Tinto, an expert on college retention, speaks highly of the finished product as an example of speaking truth to power and incorporating diversity (15/n)
Even before getting into WSJ or NR thoughtfluences, if someone is going to use their higher education in the service of historically disadvantaged groups, like teaching composition and studying CC retention, bravo to realizing such a commitment to society (16/n)
So there's a lot going on in this common meta narrative - attacking the honorific being used by someone as an example of elitism when the arguments to knock the honorific/elite are stained with base elite tropes knocking the credential and experience of the so-called elite (17/n)
CCs and EdDs fight these basic tropes regularly, setting back progress in student success and equity all so a few thinkfluencers can punch in a few cheap jokes and holier-than-thou prognostications. But it's much more world we live in than the Ivy League doctoral program (18/n)
AND I'd love to read a content analysis of dissertations from Ivy League and places like U of Delaware to identify societal impact. Scholarship is so much more and we've lived this for 30 years, now to bring it main stage (19/19)
