In 2017, as we were both approaching the end of our respective PhDs, Gili Yaron, a PhD research at the University of Maastricht, and I decided to investigate the employment trajectories of recent PhDs in Philosophy* in the Netherlands. How many of them stayed in academia? Of those who left, what did they end up doing? How did they make this transition? We found that the next steps of Philosophy PhDs in the labor market - both inside and outside of academia - were virtually uncharted.
We designed and circulated a survey with the primary goal of gathering some data about career paths of recent Philosophy graduates inside and beyond academia in the Netherlands. We also hoped to map out some relevant networks graduates can draw on, and to collect examples of good practices and helpful tips for navigating job searches for current and future graduates.
The WTMC Graduate School was interested enough in our research to organize a panel around our findings and general questions of PhD employability at its annual meeting in November, 2017. Gili and I presented our research there, which we also condensed into a very short report to be posted on the WTMC website. A version of that report is below.
* We also included graduates in closely related fields (e.g., Science & Technology Studies, History of Science) in our results.
We designed and circulated a survey with the primary goal of gathering some data about career paths of recent Philosophy graduates inside and beyond academia in the Netherlands. We also hoped to map out some relevant networks graduates can draw on, and to collect examples of good practices and helpful tips for navigating job searches for current and future graduates.
The WTMC Graduate School was interested enough in our research to organize a panel around our findings and general questions of PhD employability at its annual meeting in November, 2017. Gili and I presented our research there, which we also condensed into a very short report to be posted on the WTMC website. A version of that report is below.
* We also included graduates in closely related fields (e.g., Science & Technology Studies, History of Science) in our results.
SUMMARY REPORT FOR WTMC ON PHD EMPLOYABILITY RESEARCH (November 2017)
Gili Yaron and Andrea Gammon
MOTIVATIONS
To get a better sense of the career trajectories of recent PhD graduates, especially outside of academia.
METHODS
We circulated the survey in early summer of 2017 using the WTMC email list and by contacting recent WTMC graduates. The survey sorted respondents into three groups based on their career tracks:
1. those who remain in academia post PhD (IN AC);
2. those who work outside academia post-PhD (OUT AC); and
3. those whose post-PhD careers include work both inside and outside of academia (BOTH).
We asked several demographic questions about the respondent’s age, gender, PhD institution, field of study, length of time since submitting their PhD, but the bulk of the survey was open-ended questions grouped into several themes in order to capture the experiences and practices of the individual respondents in their own words. The themes included jobs held; job preparation and impressions of preparedness; skills; mentors; CVs; networking; and precariousness of the market and coping strategies.
42 respondents completed the survey. We had a mix of universities, almost entirely from the Netherlands, and the University of Maastricht was best represented (42% of respondents). Science & Technology Studies (STS) (or STS + another area, e.g., innovation, sustainability, philosophy) was far and away the most common field (~80%). Most respondents (~65%) were IN AC; ~20% OUT AC, and ~14% identified BOTH.
FINDING HIGHLIGHTS
Almost all respondents, across all groups, were happy to have done a PhD, even if they did not need the PhD for their current position. Some suggested that people beginning a PhD should consider the job market in the the humanities before they begin, but no respondents expressed regret for having taken the time to do the PhD.
Perhaps not surprisingly there were important differences in job satisfaction and concern about career prospects between the IN ACs with permanent positions and the IN ACs with only temporary positions. Most respondents were generally satisfied with their current employment situations, though most, across all groups, noted that they experience some level of precariousness because most of them are in temporary jobs. Many respondents recognize this as a new normal for employment in any field. Respondents from all groups named grant writing as a skill they did not develop in their PhD but that they needed afterwards. IN ACs also named teaching and supervising; OUT ACs noted that they had to learn how to speak and write for various audiences and that they had to adjust to shorter and firmer deadlines and new organizational structures.
Most respondents in all groups felt that the issue of employability had been addressed at some point in their PhD. However, many felt that the initiatives they took personally were far more effective than the institutional guidance they received.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Gili Yaron and Andrea Gammon
MOTIVATIONS
To get a better sense of the career trajectories of recent PhD graduates, especially outside of academia.
METHODS
We circulated the survey in early summer of 2017 using the WTMC email list and by contacting recent WTMC graduates. The survey sorted respondents into three groups based on their career tracks:
1. those who remain in academia post PhD (IN AC);
2. those who work outside academia post-PhD (OUT AC); and
3. those whose post-PhD careers include work both inside and outside of academia (BOTH).
We asked several demographic questions about the respondent’s age, gender, PhD institution, field of study, length of time since submitting their PhD, but the bulk of the survey was open-ended questions grouped into several themes in order to capture the experiences and practices of the individual respondents in their own words. The themes included jobs held; job preparation and impressions of preparedness; skills; mentors; CVs; networking; and precariousness of the market and coping strategies.
42 respondents completed the survey. We had a mix of universities, almost entirely from the Netherlands, and the University of Maastricht was best represented (42% of respondents). Science & Technology Studies (STS) (or STS + another area, e.g., innovation, sustainability, philosophy) was far and away the most common field (~80%). Most respondents (~65%) were IN AC; ~20% OUT AC, and ~14% identified BOTH.
FINDING HIGHLIGHTS
Almost all respondents, across all groups, were happy to have done a PhD, even if they did not need the PhD for their current position. Some suggested that people beginning a PhD should consider the job market in the the humanities before they begin, but no respondents expressed regret for having taken the time to do the PhD.
Perhaps not surprisingly there were important differences in job satisfaction and concern about career prospects between the IN ACs with permanent positions and the IN ACs with only temporary positions. Most respondents were generally satisfied with their current employment situations, though most, across all groups, noted that they experience some level of precariousness because most of them are in temporary jobs. Many respondents recognize this as a new normal for employment in any field. Respondents from all groups named grant writing as a skill they did not develop in their PhD but that they needed afterwards. IN ACs also named teaching and supervising; OUT ACs noted that they had to learn how to speak and write for various audiences and that they had to adjust to shorter and firmer deadlines and new organizational structures.
Most respondents in all groups felt that the issue of employability had been addressed at some point in their PhD. However, many felt that the initiatives they took personally were far more effective than the institutional guidance they received.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- The issue of employability should be addressed more consistently and in greater depth during the PhD trajectory, though it seems that PhD supervisors are not in the best position to discuss possibilities outside academics.
- For WTMC, this could be workshops on employability or smaller workshops within summer schools. For institutions, this could approached through the valorization chapter of the dissertation or in hooking up with emerging student (BA) employability initiatives.
- Leaving academia remains stigmatized inside academia, which we should try to change.
- These findings point to larger changes in the nature of the PhD and of research work in general. We suggest that considering these larger changes and what the PhD is preparation for at this point are questions that would be of interest to those involved in WTMC and to the Dutch academic system at large but that require much more investigation.