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Posted April 13, 2026

Why a part-time DBA might be the best professional decision you never knew you could make

part-time DBA

Let me be upfront with you: when I first started thinking about doctoral study, my immediate reaction was, “I don’t have time for this”. I’m Chief Marketing Officer at Northumbria University, I have a busy professional life, and at home I’m a parent to two young children – a son who is autistic with high needs, and a daughter who, whilst neurotypical, has her own very real needs, not least the emotional weight of growing up alongside a brother who requires 24/7 attention and support. The mental load rarely switches off. Thinking this was something I could do felt (and still feels) faintly ridiculous.

Even after enrolling, I told very few people – because I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’m confident in my professional life, but entering academia (more than 20 years after my last academic qualification at Northumbria!) felt like a different world with not only confusing rules but a whole new language. Imposter syndrome hit harder than I expected. It was only after passing my first module assessment that I started telling people. That was the moment I began to think that perhaps I could do this after all.

If you recognise that feeling, it’s both completely normal and (as it turns out) not a reliable indicator of what you’re actually capable of.

Studying a DBA isn’t the PhD you’re imagining

There’s a common misconception that doctoral study is the preserve of full-time academics or people with enormous amounts of free time. The Doctorate in Business Administration was designed to challenge that. Unlike a traditional PhD, it’s built around the relationship between academic thinking and professional practice, for people who are already doing, and who want to understand more deeply why and how what they do works.

From the very first module, I found myself drawing connections between the literature and the decisions I was making at work. Reading about strategic leadership frameworks on a Tuesday night after the kids were asleep felt directly relevant to a conversation that I was having with my Vice Chancellor the next morning. That real-world applicability is what makes the DBA feel less like studying and more like thinking more carefully about things you're already thinking about anyway. Connections are constantly sparking, driving me to think differently.

Making the time – and making it work

I won't pretend that juggling a senior role, doctoral study and family life is easy. There are weeks when everything comes at once. You learn to be highly aware of your time and protect the things that matter most – which for me is always going to be my family. I’ve not read the latest bestseller from my favourite author, I haven’t seen the new hit show on Netflix and many of my friendships are confined to WhatsApp — but there is still enough of everything to fill my cup.

What I didn’t expect was that the regular habits of study would start to appear in my day-to-day work. More patience with complexity, more understanding of my academic colleagues and a lot more willingness to question my own assumptions. Most part-time DBA programs are designed with professionals in mind – intensive study blocks, online learning and supportive supervisory relationships mean you can structure study around your life. It’s not always easy, but it is genuinely manageable if you are organised and careful with how you invest your time, energy and focus.

The question nobody asks

Everyone wants to know how I’m doing it. Nobody asks me why.

The why is the more interesting question. I’m doing it because I have a love of learning that a busy career doesn’t always leave much room for. I’m doing it because the higher education sector is changing and I want to understand it deeply, not just keep pace with it. I’m doing it because I want to work in interesting jobs that allow me to support my children and go on providing support beyond my own lifetime. And I’m doing it because, in a life largely oriented around other people’s needs, this feels like something that is mine – challenging and a little exciting, just for me.

If you’re considering postgraduate research, spend as much time on your why as your how. The how is solvable. The why is what keeps you going at 11pm when the words aren’t coming.

When your workplace becomes your research context

There's something I find very special about being both CMO and a student at Northumbria. It's a university with a real commitment to inclusive learning at every stage of life, to social mobility, and to opening doors for people who might not have imagined university was for them. As a first-in-family student myself, that mission means a great deal to me personally. I know what it feels like to step into higher education unsure whether you’re supposed to be there.

Studying where I work has given me a much richer understanding of the institution – the pressures my academic colleagues work under, the culture they inhabit. I’d like to think it’s made me a more thoughtful colleague. And this principle extends well beyond higher education: whatever sector you work in, when your organisation becomes your research context, you start to look at familiar problems with more curiosity and less urgency. That shift in perspective, however gradual, is one of the most valuable things I’ve found postgraduate study has provided.

What the research might give you – and others

I’m only six months in, so I want to be careful not to overstate where I am. I’m still very much at the beginning, still finding my feet in the literature, still working out what I don't know. But even at this early stage, the direction of travel feels important.

My research will explore the conditions for marketing success in UK higher education – a topic I care about deeply and live every day. One of the things I’m most looking forward to is the opportunity this study will give me to engage on this topic with peers across the sector: to have structured, substantive conversations with fellow marketing professionals about what's working, what isn’t, and why. The plan is to develop something practical from that – a blueprint that might offer ideas and solutions not just for my own institution, but for colleagues working in HE marketing more broadly.

That, to me, is one of the most exciting things about the DBA model. The output isn’t just a thesis that sits on a shelf. At its best, it’s applied knowledge rooted in real professional experience, with the potential to be genuinely useful – to your organisation, to your field, and to people you may never meet but whose work it might one day inform. I’m a long way from that destination yet, but it’s an exciting prospect.

So – could you do it?

I came back to study at Northumbria with considerably more commitments than I did the first time around. It’s harder, but also far more rewarding. I'm not going to pretend I have it all worked out – but I’m glad I stopped talking myself out of starting.

If any of this resonates, it might just be worth exploring whether postgraduate research has a place in your life too. The path won’t look the same for everyone, and it won't always be tidy. But if the why is there, the how has a way of following. You might just surprise yourself.

Are you considering postgraduate study? Use our course search to find your perfect postgrad program.

Helen Bower Northumbria UniversityAuthor’s bio: As Chief Marketing Officer at Northumbria University, Helen leads the Marketing division in driving the long-term financial sustainability of the university. Helen plays a crucial role in shaping the university’s brand, reputation, and strategic partnerships, ensuring value for stakeholders, and contributing to Northumbria’s growth and success. With over 22 years of experience in marketing and student recruitment, Helen has held senior leadership roles across several prestigious institutions, including Newcastle University and the University of Cumbria.

Helen is a Vice Chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Higher Education Sector Group and is a Fellow of the CIM. She is also an active member of the Higher Education Liaison Officer’s Association and the Universities Marketing Forum. She is currently a part-time doctoral student, undertaking theoretical and empirical research concerning the conditions for success in UK HE Marketing.

Helen will be appearing as a guest panellist at the upcoming Hashtag HigherEd UK conference.

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