CSHE is delighted to share the data of the three national career path studies hosted by the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE): PhDs – Ten Years Later (which surveyed PhDs in biochemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, English, mathematics, and political science from 64 institutions); Art History PhDs – A Decade Later (which surveyed all PhD recipients who graduated from U.S. art and architectural history programs, and Social Science PhDs – Five Years Out (which surveyed PhD recipients from 65 institutions in anthropology, communications, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology).
The analysis of these data examines the transition from education to more stable employment, evaluates doctoral programs, assesses the doctoral degree’s usefulness for career and life, the relationship between family and career development, and analyzes respondent recommendations for improvements in doctoral programs. An important part of CIRGE research focuses on doctoral program assessment from the perspective of the PhD recipients who went through the program and had several years of work experience and applying what they have learned.
Researchers are welcome to contact us if interested in using these survey data in their studies.
PhD Ten Years Later
The PhDs—Ten Years Later study surveyed nearly 6,000 PhDs who completed their graduate education between 1983 and 1985 from 61 doctoral granting institutions across the United States. Six disciplines were chosen to represent major fields of study: life science, engineering, humanities, physical science, and social science. Respondents completed a 22-page questionnaire that focused on their employment history, the job search process, as well as factors that influenced their decisions to accept first and current positions, retrospective evaluations of their doctoral programs, and the usefulness of the PhD. The survey had a response rate of 66 percent for domestic PhDs and 52 percent for international PhDs. The study was funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation. it was endorsed by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and the American Association of Universities (AAU).
The PhDs-Ten Years Later survey, designed by Maresi Nerad and a team of Berkeley Graduate Disivion research staff. Past Graduate Dean Joseph Cerny, and Nerad were co-PIs on the study which was developed in order to collect information on the career paths of doctorate holders and to examine the feasibility of assessing doctoral programs in terms of the career outcomes of their graduates. As such, this study was the first national survey that asked students to retrospectively evaluate their doctoral programs and the usefulness of their PhDs in light of their careers. It was also the first survey that collected career-path information up to a period of 10+ years. A timeframe of over ten years assures that most graduates have settled into more stable and permanent employment because some fields practically require a postdoctoral appointment. (In biochemistry the average time PhD recipients spend in postdoctoral appointment is 3.9 years.)
Findings Focus On:
- An analysis of career paths including information on postdoctoral appointments and their role in career advancement, and specific employment patterns of women and minorities;
- Relationships between types of institutions attended and subsequent career paths;
- Factors that influence the decision of international doctoral recipients to remain in the United States or to return home;
- An investigation of the career paths of dual career couples and the effects of marriage and children on career advancement;
- Measurement of job satisfaction and how PhDs value their education education; A comprehensive retrospective evaluation of many aspects of doctoral programs across the six selected field and types of universities.
Researchers:Joseph Cerny, Professor and Graduate Dean 1985-2000, University of California, Berkeley; Maresi Nerad, Director of Graduate Research, University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Division
Social Sciences PhDs – Five Years Out
The Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out survey is CIRGE’s latest contribution to the PhD career path and retrospective program evaluation research. Funded by the Ford Foundation, Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out, surveyed PhD recipients who received their degrees between 1995 and 1999 from 65 U.S. universities in six disciplines—anthropology, communications, geography, history, political science, and sociology.
Methods
The survey was designed to assess current employment status, types of job sectors and job satisfaction, to better understand career trajectories among recent PhD awardees, and to evaluate graduate programs. Because it often takes doctorates up to 4 years to find stable employment situations, surveys taken immediately after completing the doctorate are not helpful in understanding the career paths of doctorates. A survey five years after the PhD completion is also the optimal time to reflect on the PhD program in which one has studied, because the program experience is still relatively fresh in the respondents’ mind. Therefore, CIRGE’s Social Science PhDs–Five+ Years Out survey focused on the job search, employment and retrospective evaluation of the PhD program, and the usefulness of the PhD for careers five + years after degree completion.
Main Findings
The data collected provides tools for program evaluation, benchmarks for comparison, and objective information on PhD career outcomes. Key findings are:
- Among surveyed social science PhDs, 6 to 10 years post-PhD, 63% were tenure-track or tenured professors, 19% held other kinds of jobs at colleges and universities, and 18% worked in business, government, and non-profit sectors.
- Men and women were equally likely to begin careers in tenure-track faculty positions; however, women experienced more work-family conflict, were more likely to be single and to forgo desired children, and lagged behind men in achieving tenure.
- Respondents gave high quality ratings to their PhD programs for training in analytical competencies central in doctoral education, but often felt their PhD program had neglected career preparation, socialization into the academic community, and writing and publishing.
- Fewer than half of respondents reported the availability of formal training in teaching in their PhD program.
- Reflecting the usefulness of doctoral study in the social sciences, respondents in all disciplines and job categories rated as “very important” in their current jobs: critical thinking, data analysis and synthesis, and writing and publishing.
- Respondents often viewed their programs as failing to train them well in research design and writing and publishing.
- Competencies not traditionally central in PhD programs were very important in many respondents’ jobs—including team work, communication skills, working in interdisciplinary contexts, and managing people.
Investigators: Maresi Nerad, Elizabeth Rudd, Emory Morrison and Joseph Picciano
PhDs in Art History—Over a Decade Later
PhDs in Art History – Over a Decade Later surveyed all PhD recipients who graduated from US art and architectural history programs during the academic years 1985 to 1991. The survey response rate was 66 percent (792 respondents). Respondents completed a 22-page questionnaire that focused on their employment histories from degree completion to the present and on the intersection of career and family. We also asked about respondents’ career goals, prior work experience, job search processes, factors important to the choice of their first jobs and their current jobs; for retrospective evaluations of their doctoral programs and the usefulness of the doctoral degree; the number and kind of their publications and memberships in professional organizations; and demographic information about respondents, their spouses and life partners, and their children. The study was funded by the Getty Grant Foundation.
Main Findings:
- Although art history is a field with a majority of women (70 percent), men achieved tenure status more often and faster, earned more money, and were employed at institutions of greater prestige than women
- The main gender differences in career achievement are attributes of family status (marriage and children). Men benefited from marriage and fatherhood; women were disadvantaged by marriage and motherhood. Single women’s career achievements were nearly on par with married men
- The internal family/partnership arrangements of dual-career couples affected career outcomes
- Nearly 100 percent of the respondents were employed 10 to 15 years after PhD completion, most of them in jobs related to their fields of study
- The gap between academia and museum careers is wide; there are almost no crossovers between the sectors
- Dissertation advisors mainly encouraged academic career choices
- Job satisfaction was high, especially among museum professionals and tenured professors
- Respondents praised their education but criticized mentoring, job preparation, and help from faculty with job placement
Researchers: Renate Sadrozinski, Senior Research Associate, CIRGE, University of Washington, Seattle; Maresi Nerad, Professor and Director, CIRGE, University of Washington, Seattle; Joseph Cerny, Professor and Graduate Dean 1985-2000, University of California, Berkeley; and Sylvia La, Project Assistant, University of California, Berkeley.