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depend to a growing extent on the quality of the research that underpins our interventions in them.
Underlying the quality of research is the quality of the researchers and this depends in considerable
part on the quality of the research training they have received. However, it is well to remember that
research training can take place on the job in business as well as more formally (although still on the
job) in universities. Not all research positions in business require a PhD.
In the USA the Bureau of Labor Statistics has prepared projections of the number of jobs that require
a doctorate or professional degree for entry. These projections forecast an increase of 20 per cent
between 2010 and 2020, a growth rate which is greater than the projected growth for all occupations of
14 per cent. Taking into account the demand resulting from the need to replace workers who retire, the
Bureau estimates that by 2020 there will be 1.7 million openings in the US that will require a doctorate
or professional degree. The largest projected increases in occupations requiring an advanced degree
are marriage and family therapists, physical therapists, audiologists, medical scientists, mental health
counsellors and veterinarians. 43 These clearly seem to represent the personal service demands of an
aging population, are not necessarily the areas that one might anticipate form a move to an innovative,
knowledge economy, and seem to focus more on professional rather than research degrees. 44
In Australia the data provided in the government’s Research Workforce Strategy envisage that the
number of employed individuals with a doctorate by research qualification will rise by 3.2 per cent per
year over the period to 2020, given the government’s aspirations for expanding university education,
increasing business investment in research and the need to address major problems such as climate
change. 45
Employment destinations of PhD graduates
While theoretical arguments about the importance of PhD education are interesting, it is worth
examining the empirical data on where PhD graduates find employment and on the extent to which
they find that their doctoral education was necessary or useful in fulfilling the responsibilities of their
job. This could provide the information necessary to examine the fit between PhD education and the
skills and knowledge needs of the careers that PhD graduates find for themselves. Unfortunately, the
data necessary to do this are in short supply.
Some of the most useful, interesting and important information on this topic comes from the Royal
Society’s 2010 report The Scientific Century: securing our future prosperity. 46 A diagram on page 14 of the
report shows that 53 per cent of science PhDs in the UK take up careers outside science on graduating,
17 per cent move to non-university research positions and 30 per cent take early career research
positions in universities. However, only 3.5 per cent of the original cohort eventually achieves the
status of permanent research staff in universities and 0.45 per cent become professors. In other words,
while 30 per cent take up early career research positions in universities, the vast majority of these
eventually move to presumably better paid, more certain and secure careers outside academia – and
potentially outside of science. 47
43. http://www.cgsnet.org/march-2012
44. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics had earlier estimated employment projections 2008 to 2018. Of the 30 fastest growing occupations, 12
required short-term on the job training, 5 required moderate-term on the job training, 1 long-term on the job training, 2 work experience,
2 postsecondary vocational awards, 1 an associate degree, 5 a bachelor’s degree, 1 a first professional degree and 1 a doctoral degree. See:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/11/art5full.pdf
45. http://www.innovation.gov.au/Research/ResearchWorkforceIssues/Documents/ResearchSkillsforanInnovativeFuture.pdf
46. http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2010/4294970126
47. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus in their book Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — and What We
Can Do About It provide a complementary perspective to that of the Royal Society – but one which leads to a similar conclusion – when they
note that the USA produced 100 000 doctoral theses over the period 2005-09 when there were just 16 000 new professorships.
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