NEWS
campusreview.com.au
PhDs problematic
Report breaks down top employers
and major hurdles for PhD students.
By Dallas Bastian
A
round half of Australian PhD students
want to work in business, and
employers are keen to hire them, so
why are they still facing hurdles to landing
such jobs?
Released by the Australian Mathematical
Sciences Institute (AMSI) and CSIRO's Data61,
a new report has unpacked this issue.
The research team conducted a survey of
PhD students at Australian universities and
analysed the employment patterns of PhD
graduates through LinkedIn profiles.
The number of PhD completions has
risen from 4000 to 10,000 annually since
2001, while industry demand is growing
for specialist research capability, said AMSI
policy officer Dr Maaike Wienk.
This steep rise in PhD graduation, along
with growing demand in the private and
public sectors for innovative capability, mean
that universities are no longer the only career
option and have not been able to employ all
graduates since the 1990s, the authors of the
report said.
“Some evidence seems to point to a
problematic job market for PhD graduates
and difficulties in securing employment after
graduation,” they wrote. “However, there is
significant demand in the private and public
sector for people with deep knowledge and
sound research and analytical skills.
“If there is a gap that needs bridging, it
could be a lack of understanding on the part
of employers outside academia of the value
of engaging a PhD scholar or graduate to
meet these needs.”
Just over half (51 per cent) of current
Australian PhD students who responded to
the team’s survey said they hope to leave
academia and work in business or the public
sector after graduating.
So, where are they likely to be employed?
AMSI and Data61 found the Australian
business sectors that employ the most PhDs
are banking, finance and insurance, followed
by mining, oil and energy, and the medical
and pharmaceutical industries.
Among the top 50 PhD employers in
the business sector are some of the largest
companies in Australia, such as the ‘big four’
banks, and local branches of multinational
companies.
In the public sector, state and federal
government is a prominent PhD employer
– helped by knowledge-intensive agencies
like the Australian Bureau of Statistics,
Geoscience Australia and the Bureau
of Meteorology – as is the hospital and
healthcare sector. Coupled with the medical
and pharmaceutical industry in the business
sector, it employs the most PhD holders
outside of academia.
Data61’s Professor Paul McCarthy said
there are also significant opportunities ahead
for PhDs within young, global startups and
innovative Australian employers like Canva,
Seeing Machines and SafetyCulture.
“Our project also unearthed environmental
goods and services and media services and
technology as emerging sectors with high-
growth firms employing PhD graduates,” said
McCarthy.
The researchers said that even though in
theory there is interest from both research
graduates and industry to engage with
each other, in practice there are still hurdles
to face.
“There is the often-reported reluctance
from graduates to seek work outside
academia, or their difficulties in finding
employment after graduation,” they wrote.
“Newly graduated PhD degree holders
might not be sufficiently aware of the
skills they can bring to a commercial
environment, and what additional training
they might need to make them attractive to
prospective employers.
“On the other hand, some businesses
are hesitant to hire PhD graduates even if
they are looking for employees who have
deep analytical skills and the ability to tackle
complex challenges.”
The authors pointed to internships as a
potential way forward for PhD holders.
“A very important benefit of an internship
is learning to identify one’s transferable skills,”
they said.
“There are plenty of jobs requiring
advanced research skills if one knows where
and how to look.” ■
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