Career Outcomes of Doctoral Training: The North American

“Wake-Up” CallDebra W. Stewart

President Emerita and Senior Scholar, Council of Graduate SchoolsInternational Conference on the Development

of Doctoral Education and TrainingOxford, England

March 30-31, 2015

Accountability

5 Recent U.S. Studies Address Graduate Education

5 Studies Address Graduate Education—Converge on 2 Recommendations

• Track student career outcomes

• Align education with skill-sets required for career

Students Lack Information on Career Outcomes

Pattern of PhD Placement

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

Percentage of Life Sciences Doctorate Recipients with De-fined Commitment for Employment or Postdoctoral

Study and Number of Doctorate Recipients, 1988-2012

% with defined commitmment Life sciences

Data Source: National Science Foundation, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Obscure Career Pathways Create Mismatch

Low Completion RatesThe current state of attrition and completion in US doctoral

programs wastes human and financial resources

64%

63%

56%

55%

49%

57%

54%

41%

48%

29%

35%

22%

21%

23%

12%

E ngineering

L ife S c ienc es

S oc ial S c ienc es

Math & P hys ic alS c ienc es

HumanitiesC ompletedwithin 5 years

C ompletedwithin 7 years

C ompletedwithin 10 years

Source: CGS. (2008) PhD Completion and Attrition: Analysis of Baseline Program Data from the PhD Completion Project.

What skills do employers think students need?

EntrepreneurshipLeadership

C o n fl i c t Re s o l u ti o n

Complex Problem SolvingTeam Building

Communication Skills

Advanced Systems AnalysisEvaluation Skills

NETWORKING

Career Building

Negotiation

Project Management

Inter-Cultura l Cooperati on

Are We Aligning Education with Skills Sets Required?Students Perceived Importance and Level of Preparedness Across Skills

Very Very Skill important preparedCreativity 55% 39%Oral communication 83% 54%Teamwork 72% 47%Resilience 67% 47%Planning and organization 78% 52%Ethics and integrity 75% 54%Technological comfort and savvy 50% 39%

Publications 20% 30%Research skills 38% 56%Writing skills 70% 66%Analysis/synthesis of data 65% 62%Teaching and training 45% 38%

Chelsea Ezzo, “Graduate Student Perceptions of Graduate School Preparation for the Workforce.” Paper presented at Northeastern Educational Research Association, Rocky Hill, CT, October 2013.

What Kind of Professional Development is Needed by Graduates of Program X?

Two Pieces of Challenge Landscape Need to be Addressed Together

Documenting Career Outcomes of Graduates

Developing Professional Skills Training

Doctoral students’ career expectations: Principles and Responsibilities. The Royal Society, 2014

(royalsociety.org)

• Raise awareness of issues in managing PhD career expectations• Offer possible solutions• Encourage HEIs to implement solutions

Daily Life of a Graduate Program Leader

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”

Abraham Lincoln