Upcoming event to explain ‘the ABCs of a Business Ph.D.’


Students considering a Ph.D. in business can get their questions answered at an information session at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13, in CBC 240 at Modesto A. Maidique Campus or remotely via a live stream.

The meeting will cover the basics of getting started and emphasize how minorities in particular can benefit from financial and other assistance geared toward increasing their representation in business Ph.D. programs.

Antoinette Smith

Antoinette Smith has a Ph.D. in accounting.

Antoinette Smith, an associate professor in FIU’s School of Accounting, will lead the meeting. She stresses that getting the facts early is key to understanding how one begins the process of applying for admission and successfully obtaining support. She encourages undergraduates at all levels to take part.

“Even if right now you don’t know what your future is, you have to put yourself in a position where you will know [your options],” Smith says.

FIU business administration and human resources management double major Natalie Palacios attended an information session at which she learned about one of the opportunities that Smith promotes: the Ph.D. Pipeline. Funded by the Department of Education, the Ph.D. Pipeline culminates in a two-week summer workshop at Duke University’s school of business. Palacios applied for the all-expenses-paid trip to North Carolina and participated in 2011.

“I learned about different programs, program requirements, GMAT scores and the types of questions to expect on the test,” Palacios said. (The GMAT, or Graduate Management Admission Test, is a standardized, computer-based assessment used as an admissions tool by business schools.) “We also spoke to various students in Ph.D. programs, and they shared their personal experiences with us. It was inspiring and insightful, to say the least.”

Smith wants minority students to know that those who successfully complete a Ph.D. should be in high demand among universities, which are increasingly looking to diversify their faculty.

“I think that it’s always important. In any organization, you want to have diversity,” Smith says. Currently, minority students are underrepresented in Ph.D. programs in business, as well as in other academic areas.

Smith holds herself up as an example of someone who might have benefited from learning sooner about what earning a Ph.D. entails. She was in her later 20s when she heard about available resources.

“There could be a thousand reasons” why someone does not apply, Smith explains. “One of them could be because you don’t see someone that looks like you in the classroom. Maybe that’s not a profession you identify yourself with. Maybe you’re the first of your generation to go to college.”

Smith hopes students will choose to be informed, and she is ready to give them a true picture of graduate school.

“It’s tough and it’s challenging,” she says. “If you’re able to be self-disciplined, self-motivated and persevere, that’s the foundation right there. Everything else can be learned.”