How to Get a PhD or DBA in Security and Loss Prevention

Anyone who thinks that "PhD" and "security guard" don't belong in the same sentence doesn't realize the complexity of modern security operations. The advent of new technologies, coupled with an increased threat level, renders a PhD in Security and Loss Prevention worth consideration if you are seeking to obtain a supervisory role protecting property, people, and information.

Business is booming, both for thieves and those in charge of stopping them. In 2008, the retail industry suffered losses of $36.5 billion related to theft. The largest portion of that theft was done by employees. The economic downturn has retail companies seeking to do more with less. A PhD in Security and Loss Prevention may enable you to do more--for more pay--while still saving your employer money overall.

Information theft, meanwhile, is a problem that's getting worse every year, and needs PhD-level security personnel to take it on. Also in 2008, a man in Florida stole more than 130 million credit card numbers, the largest theft of credit card information in history.

Choosing to pursue a PhD in Security and Loss Prevention, in other words, may be a wise decision from a career planning standpoint. Alternatively to the PhD option, you may choose to pursue a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree in the security realm. Do your research before choosing an on-campus or online doctorate degree in security and loss prevention. Build your loss prevention skills by preventing yourself from wasting time and money on a PhD in Security and Loss Prevention that doesn't help you obtain the career you are seeking.

The First Fork in the Road: Physical vs. Information Security

Although it is possible to know a lot about each subject, the choice to pursue a PhD in Security and Loss Prevention entails a fundamental choice between specializations. There are basically two options for doctorate degree programs in security and loss prevention:

1. Physical security
2. Information security

Physical Security: Protecting the Retail Industry

The retail industry is the major employer of individuals who have attained doctorate-level knowledge of security and loss prevention as it pertains to physical products. Government and private security firms hire people to provide physical security to society at large.

PhD in Security and Loss Prevention programs that focus on physical security are usually operated out of the criminal justice department of a college or university. Students who pursue such a doctorate degree program may be qualified for positions such as:

• Security supervisor
• Consultant
• College professor

PhD programs in security and loss prevention that focus on physical security often require that students contribute to the system they are studying, perhaps by writing a dissertation on one particular aspect of the security industry.

Two specializations in the physical security field that are growing in popularity:

• PhDs in Private Security are focused on the protection of hard goods
• PhDs in Homeland Security are focused on the physical protection of people

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree programs are also available that focus on the business side of developing effective physical security systems.

Information Security: The Wave of the Future

PhDs in Information Security are much more common than PhD programs that focus on physical security. The decision by the Department of Homeland Security to support online degree programs in security has given increased momentum to this trend.

Currently available PhD programs focused primarily on information security include:

• PhD in Information Security
• PhD in Public Policy and Administration, Information Security
• PhD in Security Informatics
• PhD in Homeland Security Policy and Coordination
• Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Information Security

These PhD and DBA programs in security and loss prevention are intended to prepare graduates to enter a growing field that is extremely complex, and carries high stakes. The value of information--credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank account numbers--is supreme in today's information economy. How can those valuables be protected? As the graduate of a PhD or DBA program in security and loss prevention, it may be your job to answer that question in detail, by building and maintaining systems that create and sustain reliable information security.

How to Apply for PhD Programs in Security and Loss Prevention

Have you made your choice as to whether your interests lie in the criminal justice department or the technology department of security and loss prevention? If you are as yet unsure which road you should take, physical security or information security, don't worry. Continue researching on campus and online degree programs in security until the choice becomes clear.

Use the following step-by-step guide to guide your decision-making process:

Step One: Determine Your Desired Educational Format

As noted previously, the Department of Homeland Security is very publicly supporting online PhD and DBA degrees in security and loss prevention. In fact, Homeland Security recently hired online PhD in Security candidate Cheryl Seminara as the head of the Department's continuing education efforts for its 218,000 members. Private security companies have also embraced the online doctorate degree in security format, especially if your focus is on information protection.

An online PhD in Security and Loss Prevention may be desirable due to three factors: reduced cost, convenience, and immersion in the online world you may end up protecting. Bottom line: distance learning is an accepted education format for PhD degrees in security and loss prevention.

Step Two: Identify Your Accreditation Needs

The second step to choosing the right PhD or DBA program in security and loss prevention is to identify your accreditation needs. Because these doctorate degrees are typically used as a means to career advancement, you must make sure that the accreditation of particular programs and particular schools will be recognized by employers in your industry.

The U.S. government directly accredits PhD programs in homeland security through the National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE). If you are seeking to work for the government, CAEIAE holds the gold standard approval rating.

Aside from industry-specific accreditation that may be needed, any school you consider should be accredited as a quality provider of education. The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is one organization that vets schools for quality and possesses proven integrity.

Step Three: How Techie Do You Want to Go?

Physical and information protection both require knowledge of technology at the doctorate degree level. You cannot simultaneously be a dolt with computers and graduate with a PhD in Security and Loss Prevention.

However, there are drastically different levels of technology sophistication for one PhD in Security program versus another. If you are seeking to work in the field of information security, you may need a bachelor's or master's degree in such subjects as:

• Computer programming
• Electronic engineering
• Information technology

PhD and DBA programs that view security and loss prevention more from the business side of things may admit you with a bachelor's degree in a less technology-centric subject, such as history or political science. The intricacies of information security in the professional world, by contrast, demand PhD candidates who have the education to achieve technical mastery of this tech-saturated world.

Step Four: Contact Schools Directly

The Internet provides some solid tools for researching careers, degree programs, and particular schools. But there is no substitute for contacting schools directly.

If a particular PhD in Security and Loss Prevention piques your interest, ask for more information. More information to ask for may include:

• Graduation rate
• Accreditation status
• Student-to-teacher ratio
• Program history
• Prerequisites needed for admission
• Alliances with specific employers
• Facilities available for student use

Contacting schools directly can help you get a feel for how a school treats its students, what resources a school offers its students, and how that school is performing for its students.

You can also fill out a simple form on WorldWideLearn.com and get schools to contact you.

Step Five: Keep Researching

One of the distinguishing aspects of pursuing doctorate-level education in the field of security and loss prevention is that PhD and DBA programs are, by nature, research-intensive. Research means reading, writing, and interpreting information from a variety of sources.

That is exactly what you must do in a career as a high-level security executive, and it is exactly what you must do as you choose a PhD or DBA in Security and Loss Prevention.

Here are three solid research resources to keep handy as you explore your options:

• WorldWideLearn.com
• Center for National Security Studies
• Security and Loss Prevention, By Philip Purpura

Changing Security Industry Calls for Change in Security Education

Doctorate-level degrees in security and loss prevention are relatively new to the PhD scene, but likely to stay. Physical security and information security may be merging. The security guard that mans the front gate must talk with the IT staff in order for the security of the building and its inhabitants to be most effective. For this reason, PhD and DBA programs that focus on physical security and PhD and DBA programs that focus on information security must, even as they focus on their main area of emphasis, teach the principles of the other side of security.

Fortunately for the future of doctorate degrees in security, both physical and information security operations are based upon common principles, including:

• Risk management
• Policy creation and enforcement
• Threat analysis

This is fortunate for the future of doctorate degree programs in security and loss prevention in the sense that it is becoming increasingly possible to create integrated PhD and DBA programs that prepare a new generation of security leaders that are experts in both physical and information security. These programs are increasingly available as online PhD programs. Certainly any PhD or DBA degree program that you consider must address the gigantic role played by information technology in modern security and loss prevention.

Sources

• ADT Security Systems, Retailers Report Rise In Shoplifting and Related Retail Theft Breaking Six-Year Downward Trend
• Capella Education Company, Capella University PhD student named Director of the Homeland Security Academy & Center for Academic and Agency Outreach
• Center for National Security Studies
• CSO Security and Risk, Combining IT and Physical Security: Taming the Two-Headed Beast, by Simone Kaplan
• Economic Research Institute, Security, Loss Prevention and Quality Assurance Salary Survey
• George Mason University, PhD IT Concentration in Information Security and Assurance
• International Relations and Security Network
• National Retail Federation
• Retail Industry Leaders Association
• New York Times, Three Indicted in Theft of 130 Million Card Numbers, by Brad Stone