View article

The onset of doctoral programs in Mexico took place around the middle of the 20 th century. These programs evolved both, as an outgrowth of the existing scholar tradition within the humanities (philosophy) and through the effects of the new research-oriented faculty that returned from abroad in the form of several scientists who obtained their training mostly in Europe and in the United States. The generation of Spanish scholars that came to Mexico fleeing from Spain’s Civil War certainly enhanced this tradition. Therefore, the beginning of doctoral programs in the country may be understood as being the result of international forces rather than a natural development of its higher education (HE) system.

The exogenous nature of the origins of doctoral programs in Mexico explains some of the characteristics that have come to be associated with them. Their introduction created a tension between the professional and academic views of HE as well as one between the science and humanities communities regarding their position about “truth” and their different attitude towards research and scholarship. These differences had important effects beyond doctoral programs, extending to other facets of university life and even further.