Doctorate holders outside the academy in Finland: academic engagement and industry-specific competence

In Finland, doctoral employment outside the academy has been increasing. Universities can no longer absorb the numbers in the doctoral labour force and research and development (R&D) policy emphasises the need for specialised research capacity in non-academic sectors; the highest academic degree is assumed to add value. However, the transition from doctoral programmes to employment outside the academy has been limited due to the social dynamics within labour markets. This article explores the careers of doctorate holders and the motives non-academic organisations have for recruiting such graduates. The data come from a survey of doctorate holders (N = 1183) and interviews with 26 employers. Based on the analysis, there was little place for doctorate holders outside the academy, except in R&D roles. When employed to undertake work outside R&D, they carried out special, demanding tasks or had a particular role related to their academic status. Professional functions such as those undertaken by medical doctors, engineers and teachers were the most common, but career patterns varied from one employment sector to the next. Employers considered industry-specific competence to be important, and the status of the doctoral degree and the membership in the academic community were expected to advance collaboration with universities and enhance the professional status of the organisations that hired doctoral graduates.     

培养规模和就业变化对博士生教育的影响研究

由于学术内外劳动力市场的联动变化引发了博士就业的多样化,博士生教育近年来受到了广泛的关注。论文分析了关中等部分经舍组织成员国博士生培养规模和就业的变化趋势,在此基础上探讨了培养规模和就业变化对博士生教育的影响,进而为我国博士生教育的未来改革提出了建议。     

关于申请博士学位标准的调查及启示

随着我国研究生教育特别是博士生培养规模的快速发展,申请博士学位的标准也在不断地调整与优化。实践中,执行申请博士学位标准的效果如何?博士生有哪些诉求?文章基于博士学位标准的问卷调查,结合历次学位标准的主要变化,阐述了博士研究生培养不同发展阶段学位评定的主要依据和具体做法,分析了要求博士生公开发表学术论文的起因、积极影响、成效,以及申请学位限制性条件的历史必然性和负面影响,就新形势下进一步修订完善申请博士学位标准给出建议。     

Becoming an academic: international perspectives

Stress during doctoral study is common; however, its presence is of concern to students as it has a deleterious impact on well-being and performance, and to the university which has a duty of care to students and the desire to promote a supportive research environment. This article reports on the qualitative findings from an online survey that sought to identify students’ experiences related to stress during the early-stage doctoral study. All newly enrolled PhD students at the University of Otago (New Zealand) received invitations to participate and respond to two questions related to stress during the early-stage doctoral study. In total, 152 survey responses were acquired from 352 first-year PhD students (response rate 43.2%). Nine main areas of concern were identified from an inductive thematic analysis of participants’ responses. Key stressors were time pressure, uncertainty about doctoral processes, sense of belonging in scholarly communities, and financial pressures. Some findings are contrary to previous research with novel perceptions on the student–supervisor relationship, different financial issues, and transition stresses contrary to previous research; this may reflect the changed academic landscape of doctoral studies. Findings provide insight into potential support strategies to better support early-stage PhD students.     

博士生教育中创新人才培养的现状及评价——基于八所大学的调查

博士生教育中实施创新人才培养是我国研究生教育的战略目标。对全国8所大学216位博士生的调查表明,在博士生创新能力培养中,导师对学生的指导频次随学科不同有较大差异。博士生导师已经形成了对创新人才培养的培养思路和过程,但侧重不同。目前许多培养能够不同程度地促进博士生创新素质的提高,但仍有较大的改进空间。从评价视角看,目前我...     

Producing PhD Graduates in Australia for the Knowledge Economy

Using survey and interview data on PhD student course experience, career plans and views on university-industry research links, this paper evaluates the success of Australian research-intensive universities in producing PhD graduates for the knowledge economy. Student satisfaction with their course experience is surprisingly low and this appears to be strongly linked with the quality and effectiveness of thesis supervision. Although the PhD degree is meant to provide high level research career training, only slightly more than half the respondents expect to follow research careers. Many PhD students have negative views about academic careers based particularly on their perceptions of the impact of reduced government funding levels on universities and the increased workload pressures on supervisors. On the other hand, a high proportion of students hold positive views about university-industry research links, with students with industry research funding showing higher levels of course satisfaction than other students.     

大学贫困生生涯发展自信与就业指导

对198名贫困大学生生涯发展自信的调查发现,性别和贫困等级对生涯发展自信有显著的交互作用,贫困生的生涯发展自信有随着年级提高逐渐降低的趋势,身体健康水平对生涯发展自信有显著影响。高校可以从个性化、全程化、整合化和专业化等方面加强对贫困大学生的就业指导。     

Doctorate holders’ careers in Spain: Does international mobility matter?

PhD programmes are considered as transmission channels to provide specialisation and skills to students who will be employed as highly‐qualified workers or researchers. Focusing on the Spanish case, they are exerting a positive influence on workers’ careers since doctorate holders have a privileged situation in the labour market. This article analyses international mobility's effects on some aspects associated with doctorate holders’ careers such as their wages and how their current employment is related to their doctoral studies. The methodology applied consists in developing, on the one hand, a wage econometric specification and, on the other, a probit model, taking into account the possible mismatch between the training acquired in the doctoral studies and the educational requirements of the current job. In both cases, the dependent variables are explained by a set of regressors and a dummy variable showing whether doctorate holders have spent time in another country once completed their doctoral studies.     

Gender inequalities in transnational academic mobility and the ideal type of academic entrepreneur

Based on a study on academic career paths of PhD graduates in Switzerland, this paper is concerned with the individual and institutional factors that affect transnational academic mobility in the postdoctoral period. It will be argued that the institutionalisation of geographic mobility in academic career paths through research funding institutions and universities have gendering and stratifying effects. Complex formations related to gender, partnership, children, and dual-career constellations, as well as to social class and academic integration, are resulting in inequalities in the accumulation of international cultural and social capital.     

学科、课程、学位:美国关于高等教育专业研究生培养的争论及其启示

美国在高等教育研究生培养与研究方面有关学科性、课程设计与学位的争论表明 :(1 )高等教育研究作为一个学科尚不成熟。应用其他相对成熟学科的理论与方法 ,是提高高等教育研究水平与研究生培养学术质量的较好方式。(2 )高等教育研究生培养的一个主要任务是培养高等教育管理方面的实践人员 ,目前还缺少成熟的培养体系。美国大学正在采取各种试验性培养方式 ,使研究生培养更好地联系实际。 (3 )美国大学为高等教育研究生颁发学术性的Ph D和职业性的 Ed D两种学位 ,这种双轨制既有利于学术发展 ,也有利于培养实践者。     

Professional Doctorates and Careers: the Spanish case1

This article analyses the determining factors weighted by doctoral graduates when choosing their professional careers. In Spain, the analysis of such a group has been traditionally excluded from the empiric studies. On the one hand, the lack of databases made it difficult to see their professional situation, and on the other, a university career was understood as this group's innate purpose. The growing demand for qualified professionals in general and for those with a scientific training in particular has prompted the developed countries to carry out research on how to match the third-level training cycle and labour market needs. The analysis of this group's labour conditions allows one to assess whether the current doctoral education programmes satisfy labour market needs. The estimation of a multinomial logit model reveals the different factors when choosing a professional career depending on the area of knowledge. Personal characteristics, such as age, training, area of knowledge or job, as well as the expected wages become fundamental when determining doctors' professional future. Moreover, the results prove that a job outside the university is becoming a preferred option for doctors in certain fields.     

Redefining ‘early career’ in academia: a collective narrative approach

‘Early career’ in academia is typically defined in terms of research capability in the five years following PhD completion, with career progression from post-doctoral appointment to tenure, promotion and beyond. This ideal path assumes steady employment and continuous research development. With academic work increasingly casualised, experiences of ‘early career’ are changing and definitions in use by institutions and research bodies do not reflect the lived experiences of early career academics (ECAs). This paper presents five collective narratives and a thematic analysis of survey data from 522 ECAs in three Australian universities. The results offer insights into the diverse experiences of the early stages of academic careers and provide an opportunity to reconsider current definitions. We argue that the employment context in higher education makes it crucial to consider scholars’ self-definitions alongside existing objective indicators to redefine early career in academia.     

How Prepared Are MSW Graduates for Doctoral Research? Views of PhD Research Faculty

ABSTRACT

This national survey of PhD faculty assessed the research preparation of entering doctoral social work students on a wide range of research knowledge and related skills. The prior literature shows that PhD programs repeat much BSW and MSW research course content. This study shows that the trend continues and has perhaps widened. PhD research faculty report that the typical entering PhD student displayed solid conceptual, ethics, and writing skills but lesser preparation for conducting quantitative and qualitative research, including methods related to understanding evidence-based practice. The research expectations of responding PhD faculty were low, reflecting limited retention and little production of research among typical entering doctoral students. These findings raise the issue of how effectively the social work profession prepares students for research and for future PhD education.     

International Mentorship and Research Collaboration: Evidence from European-Trained Chinese PhD Returnees

Drawing on a unique dataset that combines returnees’ survey data and their information on research publications extracted from the Scopus database, this study systematically examines whether and how international doctoral mentorship for Chinese students in European countries promotes research collaboration before and upon the return of these Chinese PhDs to China. The results show that a considerable proportion of European-trained Chinese PhD returnees had co-authorship with their supervisors during their PhD study, and most of them maintained this research partnership after returning to China. In addition to the co-authorship during doctoral study, some individual characteristics (e.g., gender and marital status) and organizational factors (e.g., country of doctoral study and current work unit) were also found to contribute to international research collaboration upon the return to China of these Chinese PhD holders. This study sheds new light on the mobility and research collaboration of international students and provides policy implications for promoting Sino-foreign student exchange and research collaboration.     

Reproducing “academic successors” or cultivating “versatile experts”: influences of doctoral training on career expectations of Chinese PhD students

This investigation focuses on Chinese doctoral students’ career expectations, and examines how the students’ career expectations changed over time under the influence of doctoral training based on survey data of 1467 doctoral students from 8 Chinese universities. Doctoral students’ evaluations of doctoral training were identified. The examination indicates that more than half of doctoral students expect a non-academic profession, and more than 70% of students did not alter their professional expectations radically over time. Logistic regression model results indicate that doctoral students’ career expectations and their changes over time were influenced by doctoral training in their university environment, students’ relationships with supervisors, and students’ experiences of collaboration with non-academic organizations. Doctoral students are dissatisfied with doctoral training that does not encourage and prepare them for diverse career paths. We conclude that in the present environment, the goal of doctoral training should not only be the reproduction of “academic successors” but also be the cultivation of “versatile experts.”     

A new approach to evaluating the well-being of PhD research students

This study describes the development of an assessment to evaluate the well-being of PhD researchers using a clinically approved methodology that places the perceptions and experiences of the subject population at the heart of its construction. It identifies and assesses the range and relative importance of seven distinct dimensions which are shown to impact adversely on the perceived well-being of student researchers across all stages of their studies. According to the findings, the well-being of doctoral students comprises needs relating to development, facilities, home and health, research, social, supervisor and university. The instrument was found to demonstrate good content validity and internal reliability. Its use offers new insights into the experiences of early career researchers and may inform efforts to better support them. This, in turn, may have a positive impact upon retention levels and future career choices for this research population.     

Supporting the career decisions of Australian-based international Chinese doctoral students

Research regarding the support of career decision-making for international Chinese doctoral research students has been scarce and has assumed the homogeneity of international students. Offering insights to career practitioners, this article investigates the support for career decision-making experienced by international Chinese doctoral research students based in Australia from pre-sojourn up to their preparation for graduation. Arising from a thematic analysis of interviews with ten PhD students across three Australian universities, the findings reveal a desire for learning and career advancement that transcends national borders, underpinned by support that reinforces self-reliance and the formation of virtual and real-life social networks.     

联合指导制对博士培养质量的异质性影响——基于2021年全国博士离校调查数据的实证分析

联合指导目前已经成为博士生学术指导的一种重要形式。但和传统的单一导师制相比,联合指导制度的效果具体如何,相关的实证分析较为不足。本研究基于2021年全国博士离校调查数据,通过回归分析、异质性分析、拉索回归调整等研究方法,分析了联合指导制对于博士生研究产出和能力发展评价的学科异质性影响。研究发现,导师指导形式是博士生培养质量的重要影响因素,相较于传统的单一导师制,联合指导制对博士生的研究产出、能力发展发挥了显著的积极影响。在进一步的学科异质性分析中,结果表明在理学、工学、医学中,联合指导制的实施显著提高了博士生的研究产出和能力发展水平;在农学和社会科学中,联合导师制的影响只体现在能力发展方面;而在人文学科中,联合指导制对论文产出和能力发展均无显著影响。基于上述实证结论,研究建议在理工医等学科中进一步推广联合指导制度。     

A qualitative inquiry of doctoral students' herding in education and validation of ‘herding in educational decisions’ scale

Fresh PhD recipients are experiencing restricted career opportunities yet the enrolment of PhD Scholars is increasing rapidly. Perhaps, doctoral students lack conscious educational decision-making. Building on such a perspective of doctoral students' unconscious educational choices, we explored their educational choices throughout their life trajectory. We started with a qualitative inquiry of 18 different PhD scholars in Pakistan. The findings helped us in developing a measure to determine the extent of herding in doctoral students' educational decisions. We ‘benefitted from’ this opportunity and validated the scale in two separate quantitative inquiries for conducting an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The study concluded a 3-dimensional scale (consisting of 15-items) for measuring ‘herding in educational decisions’. The study offers certain implications for conscious educational decisions.