Introducing Beyond Academia
Ask 100 different STEM PhD students their reasons for starting a PhD and you will get 100 different answers. You might be able to spot a few themes though: themes like a love of science, a desire to contribute to human knowledge, and an aspiration to make a career out of doing so.
Most of our PhD cohort were looking to take flight in an academic career at the end of the PhD runway. This was seen as the expected path to follow after a PhD, and anything else was referred to as 'leaving' academia (almost as though it was some kind of betrayal).
But as recently pointed out in an article in The Conversation, there’s an issue with this. If the bulk of PhD candidates expect an academic post-PhD career, then a large proportion are going to be disappointed: it’s been the case since the 1990s that far more PhDs are being graduated then there are academic jobs available. There simply aren't enough academic roles to go around.
The article in The Conversation does a very thorough job of prosecuting this case, and we agree with their diagnosis of the problem. We mostly agree with their suggested treatment too.
The authors propose two main ways to rectify this issue; first that PhD programs should include more career education and support for non-academic career pathways. We’re all for this, and in fact we do some of this work ourselves with a number of Australian universities. It seems that students are crying out for this too, with 47% of surveyed PhD candidates being dissatisfied with the amount of career advice and training they receive. Thankfully, we’re seeing a growing understanding from universities that including these topics in their higher degree research offerings is the right thing to do for their candidates.
The second suggestion the authors put forward in response to this issue is the one that we don’t agree with. And that’s the idea that “the government should consider quotas for funding PhD students in each field. This would also help select the most suitable PhD candidates, who are most likely to benefit from the rigours of doctoral study.”
This isn’t the first time that the idea of reducing PhD enrolments has been put forward, but we disagree for two reasons: first, it seems to entrench the idea that a PhD only holds value as an ‘apprenticeship’ for an academic career. Our second concern is that the introduction of quotas, and the subsequent process of identifying the “most suitable” candidates, is likely to further entrench inequities in who gets to be smart.
Instead, we argue for the value that the skills acquired across the course of completing a PhD can bring to roles beyond academia. If we were to 'rethink' the PhD, we’d focus on changing perceptions by positioning careers beyond academia as equally valid post-PhD career destinations, educating non-academic employers on the value of PhDs, and educating PhD students on how to articulate that value.
This newsletter is part of our efforts to this end. We’ll be sharing our thoughts on the transition from academia to industry, sharing the career stories of PhD holders, and offering tips for readers looking to make the transition themselves. We look forward to you joining us as we reimagine the value of a PhD.