20 courses are required. In rare cases, advanced standing
may be given for coursework taken in a master’s
program or another doctoral program (see last page for
more detail).
2 substantive courses in the Division
in the first year: the social psychology of organizations
(“micro”)
and the economic sociology of organizations (“macro”)
1
elective course in the Management Division focusing
on strategic aspects of micro or macro research,
in either the first or second year
2 substantive courses
in a social science discipline in the first or second year: psychology or sociology;
more rarely in political science, economics, or
anthropology. For example:
Psychology: proseminar in social psychology
(offered every second year) plus one substantive topic
course
(decision making, personality, motivation)
Sociology: modern social theory;
substantive courses in economic, historical,
organizational or
cultural sociology; sociology of law; stratification/mobility;
networks; social movements
4 methods courses:
Research Methods and two courses in applied
statistics in the first year (one course
may be delayed until the second year) plus one other course
(applied statistics, principles of theory,
or research design)
Students are expected to take at least one
seminar in the department each year, but no particular
seminars are required.
Summer 1
Preliminary Exams
Write four open-book essays over a one-week period in
mid-June. The exam questions are based on reading
lists in micro, macro, and methods. Choice of one or two questions in each area plus one additional question
in your major field (micro or macro). A committee
of five or six faculty members, consisting of the faculty
who taught the three core courses plus two or three others,
writes the questions and grades the answers.
Each
essay will be graded pass/fail. If a student fails
only part of his/her exam, they can retake
those parts at the end of the summer.
Start Summer Paper – Empirical Research
Project
Assemble the reading committee. Both readers
must be from the Management Division Start work on
theory, methods, and data. You should be about
finished by Labor Day — theory, research design
and methods, data gathering, and preliminary analysis
— and have a rough draft into your committee on
the day
after Labor Day.
Year 2
Finish Required Coursework
and Summer Paper
Submit complete draft to reading committee
by mid-December. Submit final version the first or second week of January (right after Academy of Management
submission deadline).
We expect but do not require
you to submit your summer paper to a conference such
as the Academy of Management,
APS, or SIOP (both psychology) or ASA (sociology).
When your reading committee has accepted your
summer paper, you have passed your preliminary exams,
and
you have completed all required coursework, you
will advance to candidacy and receive the MPhil
degree.
Year 3
Dissertation Proposal
A dissertation can be written in either of two general formats: three related studies plus introduction
and conclusion or a single integrated study. Regardless
of format, a dissertation proposal should include
an introduction, literature review, and theory-development
section(s), description of your research phenomenon,
research design, and data, data analysis methods,
and a timeline for completion.
Assemble a committee
for the proposal defense, which should occur six months
after advancement to candidacy:
by the end of January of the third year if you pass
exams; by the end of March or April of your third year
if you have to rewrite some exam sections.
The dissertation
proposal committee consists of four members, three inside
the Management Division and one outside.
There is a sponsor (the faculty member who is closest
to the student), a chair (a tenured faculty member
who makes sure the forms are filled out), one person
inside our division, and one outside our division.
The outside person can be inside CBS or in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).
Summer 3
Enter the Job Market
Our job market starts at the Academy of Management
Meetings each August. You should be prepared to mail
to recruiters a packet including an introductory
letter, your curriculum vitae, published and working papers, and a five-page summary of your dissertation. You should
also be ready to talk about your work at the meetings.
Basically, this requires preparing a
short summary of your research and teaching interests (30
seconds), a slightly longer version (~2 minutes), and a
formal interview version (~5 minutes).
Year 4
Finish Dissertation,
Get a Job
The dissertation committee has five members: three inside CBS and two outside CBS (GSAS, Teachers College,
Barnard, SIPA, another business school or industry
(any person from industry must hold a PhD).
Any
CBS faculty member who has a line appointment outside
CBS can count as an inside or outside member.
Former CBS faculty can count as inside or outside
if you worked with him/her before he/she left Columbia.
The CBS PhD Office needs acurriculum vitae for
any committee member from outside Columbia.
You must distribute your dissertation at least four weeks prior to the defense date.
Your defense can have one of three outcomes: pass, incomplete, or
fail.
Pass with minor
revisions. You have six months to revise. If you
do not finish revisions to your sponsor’s
satisfaction, he/she may request an extension of
up to nine months. It is your sponsor’s choice
to request an extension, not yours.
Incomplete,
with major revisions. You have twelve months to revise.
After you revise, the committee will
meet again for a second defense.
Fail. Your dissertation is deemed unacceptable,
and you exit the program.
Other things to note:
Official university requirements are described
in more detail at these websites:
We may grant advanced standing for coursework
in another doctoral program or in an academic (not
professional) master’s program. In their
first semester, students who wish to be granted
advanced standing should submit supporting information,
which should include grades, final papers (if any),
and course syllabi. A letter from the professor
with whom the student studied may also be submitted.
Annual
reviews
We review each student’s performance every
May. We require students to demonstrate a satisfactory
rate of progress toward completion of the program
requirements. Progress is measured in terms of
performance in coursework, completion of a summer
paper and preliminary exams, and progress toward
a dissertation. Specific factors taken into account
include grades, scores on the qualifying exam,
research with faculty, evaluation of your progress
and potential (especially as it relates to your
ability to perform independent, original research),
time in the program, and potential for completion
of the program.
Because a satisfactory rate of progress
is required at all times, we have the right to
terminate your
candidacy at any time for academic reasons.
Administrative Director of the Doctoral Program
Elizabeth Elam – 311 Uris; 854-2836.
Assistant
is Dan Spacher.
Financial Support
We offer a stipend for 11 semesters.
We also offer health care coverage for
all students who are enrolled full-time (not on leave).
Finally, students have
ample opportunities to supplement their stipends
with paid research assistantships
(pay range $20 to $30/hour) and teaching
assistantships ($1100 to $1700 per course).
Dissertation
Defense
and Filing
Taken from: A Codification of Norms and
Procedures Regarding Faculty Obligation, Students’ Rights
and Responsibilities, and Graduate School Regulations
and Forms.
“The deadline for distributing copies of
the dissertation to defense committee members is
at least four weeks
before the anticipated defense date. No defense
shall be scheduled until the dissertation sponsor
and reader have signified that, in their judgment,
the dissertation is acceptable enough to warrant
a defense and final examination.”
