Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Entrepreneurship and Organization (effective fall 2023*)

The program information below was valid for the winter 2023 term (January 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023). This is the archived version; the most up-to-date program information is available through the current Graduate Studies Academic Calendar.

The Graduate Studies Academic Calendar is updated 3 times per year, at the start of each academic term (January 1, May 1, September 1). Graduate Studies Academic Calendars from previous terms can be found in the archives.

• Admit term(s) 
  • Fall
• Delivery mode 
  • On-campus
• Length of program 
  • Students are required to complete the program in accordance with the University program time limits.
• Program type 
  • Doctoral
  • Research
• Registration option(s) 
  • Full-time
• Study option(s) 
  • Thesis
• Additional program information 
  • Prospective students are advised that offers of admission to the new Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Entrepreneurship and Organization program may be made only after the University's own quality assurance processes have been completed and the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance has approved the program.

  • Disclaimer Statement:
    
    The University of Waterloo is now accepting applications for the proposed Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Entrepreneurship and Organization degree program. Processing of these applications and admission of students will not occur until the program is approved by the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance. The University will acknowledge and store applications, but will be unable to evaluate or act on them in any way until the program has been formally approved by the Quality Council. In the unlikely case that the program is not approved, the application fee will be refunded*.
    
    Please contact the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business for more information.
    
    *Refunds are provided by the Department/School.

• Minimum requirements 
  • Applicants will ideally hold a graduate degree in Business, Management, Economics, Psychology, Sociology or a related social science discipline, and must have a minimum overall average of 75%, or equivalent, in the previous degree. Those with more technical degrees (e.g., Engineering, Computer Science, Statistics) may also be considered where there is clear evidence of interest in the application of those fields to human behavior and choice in organizational or entrepreneurial settings. Applicants should highlight any prior research or research assistantship experience in their applications. The graduate degree could be a one or two-year program.
  • In exceptional cases, where a student has performed extremely well in a 4-year Honours degree in one of the domains listed above, and excelled in a scholarly research project, applicants can gain direct admission to the PhD program with the agreement of the Committee, Associate Director, Research and Doctoral Studies, and the Director of the Conrad School.
  • Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) results are required for domestic and international applicants to the PhD program. Applicants should have written these tests within the past five years.
• Application materials 
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
  • Supplementary information form
  • Transcript(s)
• References 
  • Number of references:  3
  • Type of references: 

    at least two should be academic references and one can be professional

• English language proficiency (ELP) (if applicable)

Thesis option:

Graduate Academic Integrity Module (Graduate AIM)

Courses 

• Students must complete the following courses by the end of the third term:
  • BET 701 Entrepreneurship Theory
  • BET 702 Organization Behavior
  • BET 703 Business Strategy
  • BET 704 Business Research Methods
  • 2 graduate level method or data analysis courses from the following options:
    • ECON 622 Applied Microeconometrics I
    • MSCI 609 Quantitative Data Analysis for Management Sciences
    • PSYCH 630 Advanced Analysis of Variance
    • PSYCH 632 Multiple Regression
    • SOC 716 Qualitative Methods
    • An alternate method or data analysis course pre-approved by the student's supervisor and Associate Director, Research and Doctoral Studies
• Students who have taken prior graduate-level statistics or data analysis courses can request an exemption from one of the two method or data analysis course requirements. The criteria for selecting an appropriate statistic or a data analysis course will be based on the students' research interest (for example a student may wish to do a qualitative study as part of their thesis). The student supervisor (in consultation with the student) and the Associate Director, Research and Doctoral Studies will need to approve the course selection.
• The student’s supervisor, in consultation with the student and the Associate Director, Research and Doctoral Studies, may advise the student to take additional courses, anytime during the program, if the courses directly advance the student’s work on their thesis.
• To maintain good standing during the coursework, students must maintain a minimum average of 75%.

Link(s) to courses

• Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (BET) courses

PhD Comprehensive Examination

• Students are required to meet the University-level PhD Comprehensive Examination minimum requirements outlined in the “Minimum requirements for the PhD degree” section of the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar (GSAC), with certain noted differences that are specific to the Faculty of Engineering Comprehensive Examination minimum requirements:
  • Comprehensive examination purpose: Consistent with University-level minimum requirements.
  • Timing: Students must follow the Faculty of Engineering completion timelines whereby students shall complete their comprehensive examination before the end of their 4th term or 6th term in cases where the student is admitted to the PhD program without a completed Master’s degree.
  • Committee: Students must follow the Faculty of Engineering committee composition guidelines which differ from the University-level minimum requirements in both number of committee members and committee makeup.
  • Who Chairs an examination: Students must follow the Faculty of Engineering Chair guidelines whereby the Chair is normally selected from outside of the student’s home department.
  • Format / Content: Consistent with University-level minimum requirements but with additional information provided in the Faculty of Engineering Comprehensive Examination minimum requirements.
  • Academic integrity: Consistent with University-level minimum requirements.
• In addition to the University-level and Faculty-level PhD Comprehensive Examination minimum requirements, students in the PhD in Entrepreneurship and Organization program are also required to meet the following requirements:
  • The comprehensive examination questions will be proposed by the comprehensive examination committee. The committee will consist of faculty members that have taught the core courses. In the comprehensive examination, the examination committee will assign three research questions to the students. Students will select one of these questions or suggest a slightly modified version of one of the questions. In all cases the question(s) must serve to require the substantive breadth covering different courses. Students will write a research study that will address this question. The research study will include relevant background information, literature review, hypotheses, discussion of potential methods to test the hypotheses, a description of how results will be interpreted, and a discussion of possible problems in implementing the method and how those problems could be addressed. Students must submit the written study 10-14 days before the oral examination with the comprehension examination committee.

PhD Thesis Proposal

• Students must present their thesis proposal to a Thesis Examination Committee. Students are required to follow the thesis proposal requirements outlined in the Faculty of Engineering minimum requirements. In addition, the exam will include a critical assessment of students’ thesis proposal based on a written report provided in advance. The student must submit the thesis proposal to the Thesis Committee at least one month prior to the examination. The thesis committee will assess students’ thesis proposal on the basis of its potential contribution to knowledge (originality, quality, quantity), research adequacy and thoroughness, understanding of the subject (review of previous work, choice of project), suggested theoretical framework, methods, and presentation (organization, grammar, style, bibliography). Students must present their thesis proposal by the end of the 8th term.

PhD Thesis

• Students must submit and defend a thesis by the end of the 12th term or the fourth year. A thesis must ensure that breadth of knowledge and skills are acquired by doctoral candidates through highly specialized, independent, original research which makes a distinct contribution of knowledge to the entrepreneurship and organization discipline. Students are required to follow the thesis examination requirements outlined in the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar. The candidate will submit and later defend their thesis to their Thesis Committee.