ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to consider the development of the apprentice scholar in the context of a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Program in a UK business school. It focuses on the individual's journey from practitioner to researcher; the development needed to enable them to hold these two worlds together and to gain a deeper understanding of how each world contributes to the other, bringing rigor and relevance in both cases. The chapter explores identity - developing an identity as an engaged scholar, competence - the practitioner as researcher, and community - a community of academic faculty and practitioner researchers to support the transition to practitioner researcher. It demonstrates that the contribution the professional doctorate, in the case of the DBA, can make to the development of applied research skills and the journey of practitioner to a blended persona of practitioner–researcher.
