What Are My Career Choices with a DBA Degree?

A doctoral degree in business administration can help propel your career to new heights. And in the case of at least one Walden University DBA degree-holder, those heights included a top position in information technology at the Kennedy Space Center.

Using in-depth knowledge gained from the Doctor of Business Administration degree program, Walden graduates soar to rewarding positions within a multitude of other industries, too: program analyst for the Department of Homeland Security, university faculty member, municipal human resource director, and business systems analyst for a global media organization.

Walden’s online DBA program is for experienced professionals who want to serve as global change agents in the corporate or public sector or the academic arena. If you’re wondering where a DBA might take you, here are just five of the many career paths for which DBAs are uniquely qualified:

1. Organizational Leadership

   Honing leadership skills through an online DBA program is an excellent option for management professionals who aspire to career advancement. Walden helps prepare DBA degree-seekers enrolled in the Leadership specialization for professional growth through courses like Organizational Leadership: Doctoral Theory and Practice. In this multifaceted course, students examine topics such as the relationship between leadership and management; leadership theories, sources of power, and motivation theories; and ethical dilemmas and organizational stress. During the course, students craft an organizational strategy to shape a successful business culture. Leveraging this doctoral-level knowledge can lead graduates to top executive positions in diverse and fast-growing industries—from virtual reality to renewable energy—in both the private and nonprofit sectors.¹ Positions can be lucrative. The median annual wage for chief executives was $189,600 in 2018.²

2. Information Systems Management

   An online DBA degree can provide multiple paths to careers in the expanding information systems management industry. Through 2028, labor experts project job growth of 11% for this sector, faster than average when compared to other professions.³ Walden’s doctoral degree program can help boost your professional ability and skills as you learn to align business needs with technological solutions, identify new applications for technology, and leverage technological solutions to enhance an organization’s competitive position. With a DBA degree, you can add value to your current position or use it to fuel career advancement.

3. Entrepreneurship

   Many corporations prize innovative leaders, and many of today’s top business leaders are noted innovators: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, General Motors chair and CEO Mary Barra, and Mary Dillon, CEO of Ulta Beauty.⁴ Earning a doctorate in business can provide you with tools to support and develop your entrepreneurial spirit and leadership skills in an established company or at a start-up. Walden’s DBA learning experience combines theory with practical strategies drawn from real-world situations and includes courses on topics such as entrepreneurial finance, innovation management, and contemporary challenges in business. In one study, CEOs identified lack of innovation as a key impediment to business growth.⁵ Use your online DBA degree to meet that need in a rewarding position in the industry of your choosing.

4. Finance

   Derivatives, hedging, option pricing, valuation, capital asset pricing model ... If you speak the language of finance, a doctoral degree may advance you further into an industry with above-average job growth. Individuals with DBA degrees may find career advancement in multiple finance categories and in positions like budget analyst, accountant, or auditor.⁶ Students pursuing Walden’s doctorate in business with a Finance specialization will take seminars in international finance, entrepreneurial finance, and law and compliance. Expand your career options and gain economic acumen in this Doctor of Business Administration specialization.

5. Healthcare Management

   Medical advances and an aging population are contributing to the growth in healthcare jobs. An online DBA degree can uniquely qualify you for new opportunities in healthcare management. In Walden’s DBA Healthcare Management specialization, you can expand your core business management skills in the healthcare field by learning to apply managerial decision-making skills to healthcare policy and economics. As a doctoral candidate, you will explore the private and public policy development process and understand its effect on delivery systems and the continuum of health services. The Healthcare Management specialization focuses on laws and court decisions that apply to the management of healthcare organizations and investigates the regulatory and ethical dynamics that exist within the industry. Experts predict an influx of approximately 1.9 million healthcare jobs between 2018–2028.⁷ And for healthcare executives and healthcare administrators, job growth may reach 18%, much faster than average compared to other occupations.⁸ With a doctorate in hand, you can bring contemporary and deep knowledge to this dynamic field.

Learn More About Walden’s DBA Program

Walden’s Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program offers 16 specializations to help you take your education and career to new heights. Choose from Accounting, Energy Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Global Supply Chain Management, Healthcare Management, Homeland Security, Human Resource Management, Information Systems Management, International Business, Leadership, Marketing, Project Management, Self-Designed, Social Impact Management, or Technology Entrepreneurship. 

Walden’s online DBA program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), bringing benefits that include:

• Validation that your program meets nationally recognized standards of quality endorsed by businesses, government, and other organizations.
• Assurance that your program can provide you with the skills you need to compete in today’s global marketplace.
• Recognition by employers, graduate schools, and regulatory organizations.

As a working professional, you can use the skills and knowledge you gain from your doctoral program to effect change in the workplace and in the world. Let a DBA advance your education and advance your career.

Walden University offers a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program online with multiple specializations to choose from. Expand your career options and earn your doctoral degree using a convenient, flexible learning platform that fits your busy life.

¹Source: www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/20-of-the-fastest-growing-industries-in-the-us-right-now/ss-AAyi71p#image=1
²Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/management/top-executives.htm#tab-5
³Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/management/computer-and-information-systems-managers.htm
⁴Source: www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1bsssqc9w0p5v/these-are-america-s-top-executives
⁵Source: https://hbr.org/2016/12/the-5-skills-that-innovative-leaders-have-in-common
⁶Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/home.htm
⁷Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home.htm
⁸Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm

Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.