Survey Paper: Doctoral Education in (Graphic) Design

Abstract

Universitylevel graphic design education in the United States continues to struggle with the question of what academic designation should constitute the terminal degree: the mfA, or a doctoral degree such as a Ph.D., or a professional doctorate. In light of this question, the study described in this article has two primary goals: first, to gauge the contributions of graphic design educators to the scholarly literature that contextualizes the relationship between the design disciplines and doctoral education, and second, to critically review a broad cross section of the indexed scholarly literature on this subject. The results of this study reveal that the number of ac ademics and professionals working in graphic design who have made significant contributions to this literature is negligible. This stands in sharp contrast to the comparatively higher number of academics and professionals working in architectural, industrial, product, and interior design, as well as the fine visual arts. This study argues that universitylevel graphic design educators -who are by definition members of the academy -should be familiar with the existing literature on this subject since it affects the academic standards that frame and guide their career achievement metrics and accreditation. In conclusion, this study calls for universitylevel graphic design educa tors to engage more fully in the continuing, inter and transdisciplinary conversations about doc toral education in design so that they might improve their abilities to contribute to the domains of knowledge that inform university communities, and, in so doing, advance their careers as they improve their students' learning.

Mind the gap – industry perceptions about postgraduate studies in the discipline of design

“…International debates persist regarding the ideal terminal qualification for designers. One point of contention is which form of qualification would be most suitable: a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) or MDes (as seen in the USA), or master's degrees aligned with work experience (similar to an MBA) (Sarrico 2022;Griffin 2016). The terminal qualification in South Africa is a degree or diploma (Van Zyl and Carstens 2023).…”