Beyond The Title: How A Doctor Of Professional Studies Transforms Your Leadership Journey

As expertise rises, promotions are secured, and authority is established within an organization, career expectations increase for most professionals.

Leading transformation across industries takes more than experience alone, however. That’s where a doctor of professional studies (DPS) degree comes in. Unlike a PhD that’s more rooted in theory or an MBA centered on management fundamentals, a DPS is a practice-based doctorate that provides senior professionals the skills needed to become change agents in their profession and industry.

But how does a DPS transform your career journey and set you up to become a leader? Will your studies translate to real-world expertise? What kinds of opportunities will a DPS unlock?

Here, we’ll explore how a doctor of professional studies, like the one offered by Northeastern University, can provide a pathway to deeper capacity for innovation and impact, ensuring that you can establish yourself as an invaluable leader.

DPS vs. PhD: What’s the difference?

While there are a few similarities between a doctor of professional studies and PhD, key distinctions set them apart. While both are terminal degrees and require rigorous research and a dissertation, the purpose, and the experience, of these two pathways diverges:

• Focus of research: A PhD is designed to advance theory by contributing new knowledge to an academic discipline. Students typically join a faculty member’s research agenda and spend years investigating highly specific questions that expand scholarly literature. By contrast, the DPS is designed to advance practice. Students identify real-world organizational or industry challenges—what Northeastern calls “problems of practice”—and use applied research methods to generate actionable solutions.
• Ownership of the dissertation: In a PhD program, research topics are often shaped by the advisor or department’s priorities. But for a DPS, the student drives the decision on topics.  Shannon Alpert, director of the Doctor of Professional Studies Program and an associate teaching professor at Northeastern University, explains it this way: “In Northeastern’s DPS program, you’re the architect. You get to decide what problem is most important, most pressing, and then get the skills to be able to address it.”

• Professional relevance: The DPS is built for mid- to late-career professionals who want to integrate research directly into their work. A PhD, on the other hand, is typically pursued by those aiming for careers in academia or highly specialized research.

In short, if a PhD prepares you to add to the body of academic knowledge, a DPS prepares you to transform practice in the workplace. While both degrees signal a higher capacity for reasoning, they serve different learners with different visions of how to impact their chosen profession.

Isn’t experience enough?

No. While experience is an important and valued component for any professional seeking career advancement, it often is not enough. It is common for senior leaders to hit what are referred to as growth plateaus, having become proficient in their current position but struggling to expand into ones that require broader influence. 

Certain barriers can stand in the way, such as:

• Narrowing of perspective: Years in one industry can limit one’s range when it comes to strategy and setting a new course.
• Insufficient research literacy: Executives may not have the necessary tools needed to test ideas with data and evidence.
• Credibility gaps: Without a terminal credential, even seasoned leaders with a proven track record may be overlooked for roles requiring advanced expertise or public authority.

Experience gives you context, but as Alpert explains, the DPS adds an applied research engine that turns context into evidence-backed action. “Being able to identify patterns, trends, and relationships in data sets and draw meaningful conclusions… that’ll help you address real-world organizational challenges.”

Career Impact: What comes after “Senior Vice President”?

With a DPS, professionals regularly see opportunities open to them that extend past the usual corporate advancement tree. Graduates gain the knowledge, capacity, and credential to pursue:

• Board service: A seat on a board comes with tremendous responsibility. Organizations often value doctoral-trained professionals for their ability to synthesize data and drive governance decisions.
• Advisory and consulting roles: Executives who bring research-based decision-making capabilities, like the ones garnered through a DPS program, find they’re valued as high-level external advisors.
• Public thought leadership: DPS graduates have the capacity to influence decisions and initiatives beyond their immediate scope of work. Published dissertations, presentations at conferences, teaching roles, and more allow professionals with a DPS to make a wide-ranging impact.
• C-Suite opportunities: Equipped with systems thinking and transformation skills, graduates are prepared for roles like Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Transformation Officer, or even CEO.

Alpert underscores the transformative potential: “You’re creating change within your organization or within your industry. And once you have those skills, you can continue to create that kind of change.”

Skills learned through the DPS

Think of the skills learned through a doctor of professional studies program as tools added to a toolkit. Each one is imperative to ensuring mid-career professionals can easily transition into high-level leadership roles inside or outside their current organization.

In the Northeastern DPS program, there are six areas of emphasis when it comes to learning outcomes:

• Designing, executing, and disseminating original applied research.
• Identifying patterns, trends, and relationships in data to solve organizational challenges.
• Practicing fair-minded critical thinking and evidence-based decision-making.
• Leading ethically, with cultural intelligence and global awareness.
• Communicating and collaborating across diverse stakeholders.
• Innovating within complex, rapidly evolving environments.

Each of these goes towards addressing identified gaps in leadership, combining rigorous, data-driven analysis with visionary action.

How the DPS transforms leadership from the inside out

At its core, a DPS isn’t about a credential. It’s a program that helps transform how a professional leads. At Northeastern, growth is stressed in key areas:

• Strategic thinking and systems-level insight: Doctoral work requires identifying patterns, analyzing relationships, and connecting dots across data sets. For professionals, this translates into the ability to see organizations as systems, anticipate ripple effects, and design solutions that endure. 

• Executive presence: Research from Coqual identifies executive presence—a combination of gravitas, communication, and appearance—as a measurable factor in career advancement. Through residencies, dissertation defenses, and ongoing presentations, DPS students strengthen their ability to convey ideas with clarity and confidence.
• Leading change and innovation: Deloitte’s Chief Transformation Officer 2025 study found that organizations increasingly require leaders capable of continuous transformation. DPS graduates practice this skill firsthand by designing and executing research that changes practice in their industries.
• Resilience and adaptability: Completing a dissertation while working full time demands discipline, time management, and support systems. These habits mirror the adaptability leaders need to guide organizations through uncertain times. 

As Alpert advises, “In a doctoral program, you need to reach out for support and also be a support. You know, get support and be a support. We talk a lot about finding your people in doctoral programs. So that’s really important.”

Why Northeastern’s DPS program stands Out

Northeastern University’s Doctor of Professional Studies (DPS) program  is uniquely positioned to accelerate leadership growth by offering:

• Brand-new curriculum: Designed in 2025, ensuring relevance and alignment with today’s workplace needs
• Flexible format: Primarily online, with just three residencies (two virtual, one on campus in Boston), making it accessible for busy professionals
• Industry-based faculty: Professors bring real-world expertise, not just academic theory. As Alpert points out, “our faculty…are all in or have come from industry. So faculty who are industry-based is a differentiator and it’s something that we’re proud of.”
• Cohort of leaders: Students study alongside peers with decades of experience, creating a network that challenges and elevates their thinking. “Who are your people? Who are these people that are going to challenge you, that are going to be with you on this journey?” asks Alpert
• Applied dissertation: Every student addresses a problem of practice that connects scholarship with organizational transformation.

The result is a program that feels less like “going back to school” and more like stepping into a leadership accelerator.

Is a DPS right for you?

Beyond just a title, the Doctor of Professional Studies (DPS) program offers ambitious professionals a profound transformation. It equips them with the strategic insight, executive presence, and research-backed authority essential to guide organizations and industries toward the future.

By centering your dissertation on a problem of practice, you don’t just earn a degree, you create impact. You become the kind of leader who doesn’t just manage change but shapes it.

At Northeastern University, the Doctor of Professional Studies provides students with the educational journey that builds leadership skills and habits  from the inside out, preparing you for opportunities far beyond your current role or title.