The past decade has seen an increase in the number of part time students for PhD across the world. The number of female part time students has been found to be more than the number of male part time students. There are people of all age groups and professions enrolling into a PhD programme and look for flexible study options for their study as by this way they are able to do justice to their job as well as family along with their PhD programme. Many a time students do opt for a part time programme because of geographic limitations where they find it difficult to commute on regular basis.
What is fundamental to note here is that it is not any simpler to earn a part time degree as compared to a full time programme. What adds on to the challenge of a part time programme is that scholars have to divide their focus between so many other activities. A PhD programme is a difficult to do task and requires intensive research and course work commitments which is much more than a regular bachelor’s degree programme.
Sometimes scholars who chose for a part time programme decide to pursue their PhD in a field that has a link with their ongoing professional network. This is a good initiative and helps to expand their educational resources. Though it does bring is some overlapping of commitments and added pressure but it does lead to a better understanding on the concept at both the places
Universities may have some prerequisites for allowing students to enrol for a part time programme. Some of the commonly found university requirements are:
- Live in duration: Though universities offer the flexibility to part time students to pursue research off the site, they do have some time duration for which respondents have to compulsorily be on campus for a better understanding. This duration could vary from six months to a year, varying from university to university.
- Duration of the course: The amount of work expected from part time scholars is not any less than what is expected from full timers. Consequently, they complete their programme in a much longer time comparatively even though the scholar has a master’s degree at hand
- Entrance exam: There is no relaxation, in most of the universities, for part time students when it comes to the entrance exam. They have to qualify through the same process as full time candidates.
- Thesis: All part time students have to complete their thesis and submit their dissertation in the stipulated time to be able to earn a degree