The project on careers of doctorate holders (CDH)

Laudeline Auriol, OECD

Strategic Workshop: Addressing the Shortage of

Data on the Social Sciences and Humanities14-15 September 2010

Careers of Doctorate Holders (CDH) project www.oecd.org/sti/cdh

• A joint OECD/Eurostat/UNESCO project launched by the OECD Secretariat in 2004

• An expert group formed of representatives from national statistical bodies (participation on a voluntary basis)

• Technical guidelines: methodological guidelines, model questionnaire and output tables to report data at the international level

OECD Working paper DSTI/DOC(2010)1

Careers of Doctorate Holders (CDH) project www.oecd.org/sti/cdh

• First pilot data collection in 2005 (7 countries) OECD Working paper DSTI/DOC(2007)2

• First large scale data collection in 2007 (25 countries) provided a rich set of data OECD Working paper DSTI/DOC(2010)4

• Next data collection is underway 2010 and results are expected for the end of the year (with reference to the situation of doctorate holders at the end of 2009).

Main methodological challenges

• Build and maintain registers of doctorate holders

• Cover the entire target population (i.e. total number of doctorate holders below 70 years old, whether economically active or not, who are resident in the reporting country) under-coverage of foreigners, of those having received their doctorate abroad and of older population

• Measurement of international mobility and postdoctoral experience

Contents

• Data collected through 30 tables covering:– Personal characteristics of doctorate holders– Educational characteristics– Labour force and employment situations– Perception and satisfaction related to

employment situation– Mobility (job-to-job, inter-sectoral,

international)

List of tables collecting information by field of science

• Doctorate holders by citizenship/place of birth and (detailed) field of doctorate degree

• Recent doctorate recipients: age at graduation and time to completion by main field of doctoral degree

• Doctorate holders by main field of doctoral degree and primary source of funding during completion of doctorate

• Doctorate holders by employment status and field of doctoral degree

List of tables collecting information by field of science (continued)

• Employed doctorate holders by field of doctoral degree and occupations

• Employed doctorate holders by sector of employment, (non)-research occ., field of doctoral degree and sex

• Employed doctorate holders: median/average gross annual earnings (sector of employment, (non)-research occ., field of doctorate and sex)

• Employed doctorate holders: perception regarding their job qualification by sex and field of doctoral degree

Some results on social science doctorate holders

• 52 000 in 2006 representing 25% of total doctoral awards (52% are women)

• Doctoral awards in the social sciences increase more rapidly than the overall numbers partly because of the increased participation of women

• Age at graduation is higher than for the overall population of new doctoral recipients

Unemployment rates of doctoral graduates, 2006

Breakdown of 1990-206 doctoral graduates by main employment sector, 2006

Percentage of women out of 1990-2006 social science doctoral graduates working in research and non-research

activities, 2006

Overall situation of social science doctorate holders

• The situation of doctorate holders in the social sciences does not differ much from that of other doctoral graduates, and is if anything more favourable.

• The employment prospects of doctorate holders in the social sciences are also relatively favourable by comparison with all doctoral graduates. In two-thirds of the countries, they have lower unemployment rates and fewer of them are in occupations for which they are overqualified. But part-time employment is more common.

• A majority of social science doctoral graduates work as researchers, and an important share teach at a higher education level. Other occupations in which they are employed reflect the diversity of the different social science disciplines. Their presence in managerial occupations is also higher than for other doctoral graduates, which is an indication of their influence in society.

Other types of indicators (all fields of doctorate)

Percentage difference in median gross annual earnings, 2006

Percentage of national citizens having lived/stayed abroad in the past ten

years, 2006

Other types of indicators (all fields of doctorate)

0

10

20

30

40

50Benefits

Salary

Opportunities for advancement

Job security

Working conditions

Social statusIntellectual challenge

Degree of independence

Location

Level of responsibility

Contribution to society

Women

Men

Percentage of doctorate holders dissatisfied with their employment situation (country average)

Prospects

• The 2010 data collection is expected to yield better and more comparable results

• New participating countries : Hungary, Israel, Slovenia, Turkey, Chinese Taipei, …

• More comprehensive information by field of science should become available

• More could be done through the use of micro-data analysis

Thank you!laudeline.auriol@oecd.org