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The employment of PhD graduates in the UK: what do we know?

  • 17 February 2020
  • By Sally Hancock

This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Sally Hancock, Lecturer in Education at the University of York. This blog features some of her research supported by a Society for Higher Education Newer Researcher Award (reference: NR201609). The dataset was prepared for analysis by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

In recent decades, the number of PhDs awarded by universities has steadily and in some countries rapidly increased. Across the world, governments have invested in PhD education as part of a broader strategy to develop knowledge-based economies. This agenda, supported by organisations such as the OECD and World Bank, states that future national prosperity requires both the creation, application and dissemination of knowledge, and a supply of highly skilled workers.

In the UK, PhD holders are similarly valued for their ‘vital contribution to British industrial performance and improved economic productivity’. There has been considerable investment both in skills training to prepare PhDs for employment outside of academia and more recently, through the introduction of loans to attract more individuals to doctoral study. If the government is to achieve its ambition of increasing expenditure on research and development to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, it is estimated that a further 25,000 PhD students will need to be recruited.

The expansion in doctoral education has not been viewed positively by all. Some question whether there are already too many PhDs and ask whether there are sufficient employment opportunities outside of the academic sector. Several studies suggest that many PhD students continue to prefer academic employment, leading to harsh competition in the academic sector and frustrated ambitions. The mismatch between PhDs’ career expectations and realities has been cited as one of the factors underpinning the relatively poor mental health and wellbeing of this group.

The existing evidence on PhD employment is, however, relatively limited, as PhDs have historically received far less attention than undergraduates. Research suggests that PhD graduates enjoy both higher earnings and higher rates of skilled employment, but this varies significantly by field of study and national context. Developing a reliable evidence base for the UK context is therefore particularly important amid plans for further investment and growth. Over the last decade, reports by Vitae have demonstrated that a diminishing proportion of PhD graduates will secure academic employment. Nonetheless, there is a wealth of qualitative data which suggest the enduring preference of academic careers among PhDs, together with a reluctance to consider ‘alternative’ careers.

In an effort to better understand the outcomes of PhDs, and especially what happens to those who leave the academic sector, this new study made use of the best available data on PhD employment in the UK. These data are collected through the Destinations of Leavers of Higher Education Longitudinal Survey (Long DLHE) which records activity three-and-a-half years after graduation. While HESA does not regularly publish findings on PhD employment, DLHE data have been analysed for this purpose before, most notably by Vitae.

The dataset analysed for this study, however, was different in that it incorporated additional information on PhD holders’ academic and demographic characteristics, linked from the Student Record. Put simply, this allows PhD employment outcomes to be examined in relation to factors such as PhD subject and institution, prior qualifications, age, gender and ethnicity. In total, the dataset includes just under 5,000 UK PhD holders, who graduated in 2008/9 or 2010/11 (a response rate of 39.5 per cent)

Considering first the promises of the knowledge economy, the Long DLHE offers some optimistic indicators. PhD holders’ report higher average earnings than those with a first degree or Master’s only. However, there are notable variations in earnings by the subject, with Arts and Humanities PhD holders earning significantly less than all other subject areas. PhD graduates also report higher rates of skilled employment, though we should note that definitions of ‘skilled work’, and what counts as PhD-level skilled work in particular are highly contested.

Employment outcomes by sector

Turning to consider employment outcomes by sector, figure 1 demonstrates that the vast majority of UK PhD holders (70.1 per cent) have left the academic sector three-and-a-half years after graduation. Of those who remain in academia, one-third are undertaking research, while two-thirds occupy the role ‘higher education teaching professional’. This distinction is admittedly problematic in that it conflates those employed with teaching-only contracts with those in more conventional academic positions (combining teaching, research and administrative duties). Unfortunately, the Long DLHE data cannot generate a more detailed insight into the roles PhD holders are undertaking in academia.

Of those who have left academia, just over half (53.8 per cent) report that they are still engaged in research, with the rest (46.2 per cent) stating that they no longer undertake or work with research. Logistic regressions conducted to predict which PhD holders secure research roles outside academia suggest that PhDs from Russell Group institutions, scientific subject areas (biological sciences; biomedical sciences; physical sciences and engineering), and male PhD holders are significantly more likely to secure research employment. This suggests that while there is evidence of a science-focused knowledge economy in the UK, the recognition of Arts and Humanities and Social Science PhDs – and their research skills – across non-academic sectors is less clear. These findings also suggest that gender and institutional prestige are associated with forging a research career outside of the academy.

While the Long DLHE affords broad insights into the employment destinations of PhD holders, it ultimately provokes more questions than it can answer. Critically, the Long DLHE imparts very little on decision-making or other circumstantial factors that may explain why a particular career pathway unfolds as it does. Perhaps the observation that PhD graduates who are no longer employed in research, whether in academia or beyond, report significantly lower career satisfaction is evidence enough that withdrawing from research is not the intention for many.

If doctoral expansion and the policy promises underpinning this continues, it is vital for the UK to develop better methods to capture the contributions of PhD holders. Following the initiatives of other nations, stakeholders of the UK doctorate ought to prioritise longitudinal methods of data collection, which are rich on demographic and decision-making information.

7 comments

  1. fatima kiran says:

    Appreciate the initiative and the mental wellbeing of the researchers.

  2. albert wright says:

    This seems to be valuable as well as interesting research.

    Does it imply that fewer people doing PhD’s in Arts subjects would be a good thing?

  3. Craig Wheway says:

    To be honest, if you look at the UK, having a PhD – unless you have one in the hard sciences – does not lead to higher earning potential. Experience counts the most and to give an example, my friends who did not always have degrees own houses etc. What is not factored in is the loss of 5 years earning potential at Masters to PhD level when other people are gaining experience. You have to be in a fairly decent position to get a house or have a partner earning a good salary (which you didn’t have to have in the past). Young academics are in their 30s, yet degree holders have had a decade to get promoted by the same point.

    Although I left the country for a few years, my PhD was respected abroad (Social Sciences) but if you look at the data, a hell of a lot go into teaching. I find the Social PhD is so specialised, that not enough of the skills acquired are transferable. Also, the cost has to be factored in and I would say unless you are funded, it is not worth undertaking a PhD for any kind of financial gain. But I went in knowing this to some extent.

    Work is being done to make PhD holders employable but depending on where you live, the jobs market may not cope with higher qualifications. I feel that unlike other countries, we do not celebrate the PhD because if it is not matched by a higher salary, your family will not respect you anymore so for having one.

  4. Having worked with doctoral level students for some years in enterprise, they have tremendous potential but are typically located in highly academic environments where this is often not recognised. Add to this the very nature of a PhD, they often miss the opportunities to build and grow a business, or contribute to the growth of a small business. Entrepreneurial people, for example, have to make pressured decisions with incomplete evidence.

    Thus joining the dots of a researcher’s competencies and aligning them to the interdisciplinary environments where team working is essential, has thus far demonstrated significant interest.

    Sadly, I can count on one hand the people I know who are capable of doing this well.

  5. M says:

    I’m about to finish my PhD in STEM. As an international student and not having a good reason to stay in the UK like family, the only reason to stay here would be to find a decent research job. Is there any in the UK? Not the traditional tenure track role, but only doing research. Looking at the research job market in Germany for example, MPI or other research institutes offer so much that the UK has nothing to offer compared to them. I like staying but it look like the UK doesn’t have much to offer!

  6. I’m from a working-class background born in the North West of England. I joined the British Army aged 16 without any school qualifications. During my active service career in the Parachute Regiment [serving two intense tours of Northern Ireland], I started taking photographs and began working as a unit photographer. After six years of military service, I left the British army to further my education and enrolled at the University of Brighton getting a 2:1 in editorial photography. Since graduating in the mid-1990s, I worked continually as a freelance photographer, working for national newspapers and magazines, at home and abroad In 2015, I took on a Ph.D. scholarship to better my life and yes, I did expect to get work or at least get on the ladder within an academic institution. I’ve applied for many posts since obtaining my Doctorate and have not got a single interview. The more rejections I get, the more it impacts my mental health and wellbeing. Only recently I applied for an associate lecturers position, at a London university where I have exhibited my photographs, even given lectures on my “professional practice” as a photographer in the past, and know many of the staff working at this university [of which I have contributed my photographs for there book publications].
    What is most peculiar, is that I was given a job back in 2018 [when I was finishing my Ph.D. with minor corrections] as an associate lecturer at this very London university. They informed me months later that I was to be placed in the “talent pool”. Although after what seemed like treading water in this imaginary London university “talent pool” for months on end, I was not even called in for a lecture to students. But having a mostly stoic attitude to life, I, therefore, applied again for the same job as an “associate lecture” position at the very same London university. The most recent time I have been rejected, which was less than a few weeks ago [3 November 2021] weeks ago, the person whom I know at the photography department at this very London university kindly emailed me back [as I was slightly disgruntled from not even being asked in for an interview (yet again), but also given any feedback as to why I was not even given an interview despite having my all-singing Doctorate.
    This was their response:
    “We had almost 100 applications, all of which go to each of the six Course Leaders to shortlist, and that shortlist is dependent upon applicant’s skills but also have to marry to the Course needs for that year. I am not involved at that stage as it is at Course Level. When they have selected their shortlist according to their needs I do a quick check to make sure there are no conflict of interest or any anomalies – there were not – and then the interview processes begin.
    As you can see, it isn’t wholly on best qualified in general, rather who on that list is appropriately qualified and who directly fits the Course need. We only feedback in detail to those that were shortlisted – I know that is tricky for all other applicants – but that is the norm and with nigh on 100 applicants, you can see why.
    In terms of your own trajectory, the Ph.D. when shortlisting for established, rather than hourly-paid staff, is the gold standard. So it is worthwhile and I am sure worthwhile beyond the wholly instrumental. But I get the pragmatics and the frustrations. I do think being hourly-paid brings its own frustrations too… there are no hours guarantee and that can also lead to people understandably feeling undervalued. Some of our hourly paid will do only 15-20 hours across an entire year – that can be tough.”

    In all honesty, I have to ask myself tirelessly, was six years of my life working on a Ph.D. to better my life, really worth it? Obviously, it’s marvelous that you can use “Dr” before your name, although many ignorant people [and there are many in the world] who unless you are a clinical Doctor, being a Doctor of Philosophy means nada.
    Which is a great shame and is a reflection of British society [I work for a veterans charity in the UK, who are clearly confused by all Doctors of Philosophy, and indeed philosophy in general terms, dare I even put it before my name, is a general feeling here].

    Therefore I conclude: was doing a Ph.D. really worth it? Fineanchly no. My “scholarship” was 15 K a year. I don’t know why I put my own family through such heartache and pain. I even had to leave my home in England and move to Northern Ireland for the first year, which really impacted my young family. And to think that after all this heartache and struggling, I am struggling even more. I have to be both mindful & truthful here: the Jury is still out…

  7. As a former Merchant Navy Officer and 12 years as a Bomber Command Navigator. I then worked as a Professional Navigator for Irish, and South African Airways. I finally Matriculated as a mature student at Oxford University in September 1979 and obtained a PHD in Astrophysics from Oxford in 1984. I then worked at the University of London Observatory at Mill Hill where I wrote the software for the Tycho project carried on the Hipparchos satellite of the European Space Agency.
    I also spent some time in industry as Principal Engineer in the advanced system study group at Racal Avionics, returning to lecture in aeronautics at London Guildhall University.
    As a Professional Navigator both at sea and in the air I am now a Member of The Royal Institute of Navigation.
    Publications: D Phil Thesis. (Including various astronomical papers.)

    ‘Some Aspects of Extra-Galactic Astrophysics’ Oxford University. 1983. Brasenose College.

    The Numinous Legacy. Modern Cosmology and Religion. 2002. (see Amazon Books.)

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