Six faculty members from the School of Design and Visual Communication (Edcom) are pursuing doctoral degrees at renowned universities in Latin America. The professors note that this study opportunity not only enhances their professional knowledge but also provides them with a new perspective in their field.
The University of Havana in Cuba, the University of Palermo in Argentina, and the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain are the three institutions chosen by Edcom professors for their postgraduate studies.
These programs are semi-presidential, allowing the doctoral candidates to continue their work in Ecuador. Like them, hundreds of Ecuadorians pursue their PhD degrees abroad due to the limited offerings in the country. Only 18 doctoral programs have been approved by the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation (Senescyt). These courses are available at 59 universities and polytechnic schools accredited by the same organization. To address this shortfall, Senescyt has awarded nearly 1,600 scholarships for PhD studies at foreign universities between 2007 and 2015.
"The added value of studying in another country is the cultural exchange, learning about other media and ways of doing things," says Diego Carrera, a professor in the Web Design program at Edcom. Antonio Moncayo, a professor in the Graphic Design program and a PhD candidate in Design, shares a similar opinion. "In Ecuador, there are no PhDs in Graphic Design nor study programs for it; this is because these fields of study are beginning to mature, and theoretical frameworks are gradually becoming solid," Moncayo states.
Paola Ulloa, coordinator of the Social Communication program, is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Social Communication Sciences in Cuba. "Journalists work with live sources; studying for a doctorate requires working with bibliographic sources, much more reading, and handling theories," explains Ulloa, who has over 10 years of experience in media.
Thus, these six Edcom professors will join the 101 PhDs currently working at ESPOL. As of July 2015, Diario El Comercio reported that there are around 1,860 professionals with doctoral degrees in Ecuador.
21/12/2015
