Profiling of Turkish Third-Cycle Theses in Design: Bibliometric Analysis of the YÖK Thesis Center

Date

2024

Author

Pedgley, Owaın Francıs
Palamut, Yaren
Şener Pedgley, Bahar
Evans, Mark

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Third-cycle degrees in design, known as doctoral or doctoral-equivalent design degrees, have grown considerably in quantity and stature worldwide. Distinctive characteristics associated with the degree titles (e.g. Ph.D., D.F.A.) have been debated considerably. Yet, there remain indeterminacies and debates concerning fundamental purposes, core competencies, management, and targeted beneficiaries of these degrees. Alongside these concerns is the matter of national and institutional profiling, to build within academia a shared knowledge of the state-of-play and orientation of the field. This paper puts forward the Turkish national and institutional case. Although Türkiye is known to be a prolific provider of third-cycle design education, what is not clear are: (i) the completion metrics regarding whereabouts and in which quantities third-cycle degrees in design are awarded, (ii) the variety of administrative units that support delivery of the degrees, and (iii) the breadth and distribution of academic content and design specialisms within the degree theses. In Türkiye, all third-cycle degree theses are submitted to a centralized database named the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center (CoHE TC / YÖK Tez Merkezi). To create national and institutional profiles of design theses submitted up to and including July 2021, a bibliometric analysis of the CoHE TC was carried out. In total, 716 third-cycle design theses were analyzed. One fifth of Türkiye’s higher education institutions (HEIs) have at some point been involved in supervising third-cycle design theses. The core of third- cycle design education in Türkiye is carried out within the specialisms of industrial design and graphic design. However, the thesis dataset is varied and nuanced, with many other design specialisms and areas of enquiry represented. The findings are intended to aid researchers, instructors, and administrators as part of benchmarking, strategic planning, and raising awareness. Additionally, the paper details a reproducible method for interrogating the CoHE TC, which may be adopted by researchers intending to profile theses in other academic fields.

Subject Keywords

Third-cycle Design Education, Design Theses, Ph.D. degree, Proficiency in Art Degree, Türkiye, Üçüncü-Dönem Tasarım Eğitimi, Tasarım Tezleri, Doktora Derecesi, Sanatta Yeterlik Derecesi

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/113369

Collections

Department of Industrial Design, Article