From a PhD to What? The Importance of the education-employment transition: Lessons from the Netherlands

Abstract

The number of PhD graduates is on the rise. With the exception of Poland, all of the OECD countries experienced an increase in PhD graduates in the past decade (OECD, 2013). The increase in PhD graduates attests to a growth in knowledge and innovation, a growth that can be advantageous for academia, government and industry alike. But realizing the full potential of this growth requires knowledge and understanding about the transition from doctoral education to employment. Where do PhD graduates end up after completion of their studies? What barriers do they face in successfully completing their studies and moving on to employment? Which graduates are less successful in transitioning into employment? Driven by questions such as these, we undertook a survey of PhD candidates in the Netherlands from February 2008 to June 2009 at four universities (response rate 50.7%; for more details see Sonneveld et al., 2011) and a further survey of all PhD candidates registered at Utrecht University in 2010 (for more details see Sonneveld et al., 2011). Here we briefly present and discuss some of the most important findings from this research in relation to the transition from doctoral education to employment. Three findings have been particularly salient: 1) that it is possible to predict potential factors leading to delays in PhD completion; 2) that while women are increasingly taking part in doctoral education, significant differences in initial employment outcomes after graduation remain; and 3) that candidates less successful in transitioning from their PhD into paid employment share certain characteristics.