Publication: How to boost the PHD labour market? : facts from the PHD system side
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2013-09
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Abstract
OCDE publications in the early 1990s on Science-Technology-Economy alerted several
member countries on the prediction of a future shortage of skilled researchers and its possible
impact on the economy. Consequently, on the decade 1998-2009 the number of doctorates
handed out in all OECD countries grew by 31%. Doctoral holders are not only the most
qualified in terms of educational attainment, but also those who are specifically trained to
conduct research. Although the unemployment rate for doctoral holders is stabilized around
3% since 2006, nowadays it is becoming more and more difficult for them to find a job
corresponding to their qualification. The recruitment of PhD graduates in the private sector
(business, industry) should be considered a key avenue in converting research into
commercialized innovations, technological progress and productivity growth of the countries.
Universities and R&D and innovation policy makers are committed in boosting the PhD labour
market. This paper discusses the diagnosis of the situation of the PhD job market, the careers
and mobility of doctorates holders along the OCDE countries. Having analyzed the employment
of PhD holders in the private sector and bearing in mind that most of the doctoral programs
conform to a classical old model, our interest is focused on exploring significant relationships
between the intensity of graduate’s employment in private sector and new strategies
implemented in recently upgraded doctoral systems. Conclusions relating recent reforms in the
PhD system established in some OECD countries and their PhD labour market are stated out.
In this study we make intensive use of the data collected through a collaborative project
launched by the OECD with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and Eurostat
(OECD/UIS/Eurostat project) aimed at developing internationally comparable indicators on the
careers and mobility of doctorate holders in 2009, the CDH project
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Career of doctorate holders, PhD, R&D and innovation, Reforms in Doctoral Education, University-governemnt-industry links