The article first examines changes in the German doctoral education system in the context of the German qualification system, and in the wake of the European Union's Bologna and Lisbon processes. These changes can be described as increasing ‘educationalisation’, at least for the humanities, social and educational sciences. At the same time, however, important elements of the cultural and symbolic capital (Bourdieu) of the desired doctoral title remain, adding a cultural “surplus” to the market-based possibility of converting the title into economic capital. These symbolic traditionalisations, which date back to medieval, corporatist guild systems, thus constitute an ideologically shaped relationship to “marketisation”, which imbues the knowledge economy with an aura of responsible expertise. Finally, the extent to which the forms of participation and examination of professors of education, who were and still are involved in these transformations, have changed is discussed. The analysis is based on documents, literature and personal experience. It starts from the German case and broadens the perspective to the European area. Methodologically, it takes a theoretical-historical and exploratory approach.

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