PhDs of International Students—The Case of Israeli PhDs

Abstract

Pursuing academic studies in foreign countries is a globally prevalent phenomenon for diverse reasons: earning a degree in high-demand subjects from a prestigious university opens more doors than a diploma earned locally. Earning a degree overseas is an opportunity to expand one’s horizons and gain new experiences and exposure to other cultures. In addition, other personal and/or academic reasons that prevent students from pursuing a degree in their home country, such as age, admission requirements, and difficulty in finding an appropriate supervisor, motivate them to choose a degree program in a foreign country. The current study examines the motives of PhD degree holders who are Israeli residents who completed their doctorate studies overseas and explores the aspirations they hope to achieve through such studies. The study examines several aspects of the profiles of PhD holders who chose to study overseas, including demographic, socioeconomic, academic, financial, and professional, as well as their aims. The study sample comprised 153 PhD holders who earned their PhD degree in the field of education overseas and applied to the Israeli Ministry of Education for accreditation of their degree. The sample focuses on PhD holders in the social sciences and humanities, specifically in education. The study was conducted using the quantitative method and is based on a survey. The findings of the study offer insights into decision makers in higher education in Israel and their efforts to assess the value of the degrees presented for accreditation by PhD holders who earned their degrees overseas.