Doctoring knowledge or acknowledging doctors?

Doctoral forms of study are now diverse, although debate exists about whether ontological differences separate the research‐based Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from alternative doctoral forms that contribute to professional practice. The purpose and processes of doctoral study and prevailing market logics that suit the knowledge economy affect the doctoral experience. Solutions entail relationality between the ideas that members of society hold about the ontology and purpose of the PhD and alternative doctoral forms, individual existential desires, and the materialities of the contemporary workplace. The PhD discursively contributes to both academic and professional becoming, with deep disciplinary mastery of threshold concepts. Disciplinary learning groups offer a critical and sometimes transforming experience. In addition to preparing the next generation of academics, the traditional PhD offers high‐level generic skills that are rare outside academia. In geography, especially, these skills are increasingly valued in society, not least when combined with diverse content that is highly relevant to contemporary global challenges. Institutions might help staff and candidates resist neoliberal tendencies for timely completions and offer a more appropriate learning experience, alongside ethical and transparent promotion of the purpose and practices of the doctoral experience. In time, such changes might signal a transformation influencing how all actors from society, the institution of higher education, supervisory staff, and doctoral candidates imagine doctoral and post‐doctoral work—“acknowledging” doctoral expertise and its societal value from both within and outside the academy.