Knowledge is Power: Professional Doctorates for Security Practitioners
Prof Alison Wakefield PhD CSyP FSyI
Co-Director, University of West London Cybersecurity and Criminology Centre
In July, the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS) at the University of Portsmouth proudly celebrated the first two awards of its Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management. Security practitioners Dr Mike Gilbert and Dr David Rubens CSyP FSyI were the recipients of the award, which carries the post-nominals ‘DSyRM’.
Professional doctorates are equivalent to Ph.Ds and have been driven by growing demand among professionals for higher level academic qualifications, in a fast-changing and increasingly complex world in which continuing professional development is more important than ever. There has also been increasing emphasis by government, industry and universities on promoting educational routes that are better tailored to the needs of practitioners and the wider economy.
Such degrees began to emerge in the 1990s in English-speaking countries, where they are largely concentrated, and a recent study by the Careers Research and Advisory Centre identified 320 programmes now running in the UK. They are subject specific, one of the more well-known pathways being the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA), while other common routes are in education and clinical psychology.
The remainder of the article can be found in Risk UK magazine, August issue, pp.54-55
Chartered Security Professional & Director at Optimal Risk Group
8 年Credit where credit is due! Well done on a great achievement!! I'm not sure many will realise the commitment and effort that it took for you to succeed as you have!! Congratulations.
Safety & Security Risk Consultant
8 年Congratulation David
Executive Director, The Institute of Strategic Risk Management
8 年Thanks to everyone for their kind words. (Thanks also to Alison for 4.5 years of support, encouragement, cajoling, and the occasional understated growl or two....). The Prof Doc, is a hell of a programme (in both good and bad senses) - it is a genuinely testing long-term process that gives you the freedom to dive into the deep oceans of research, but also demands that you push yourself to deliver doctorate level work that is probably far beyond what you considered as your comfort zone. However, if this is the sort of thing you are interested in - then there is nothing better than having the opportunity to take 'professional development' to the absolute extreme. Feel free to pm me if anyone would like further information or just to chat about it as something you may be interested in.....
Employed
8 年Congrats Mike and David for receiving this honor